Sensational Sid Harvey named player of the tournament at state rugby union carnival

Narrabri boys Bernard O’Connor and Sid Harvey have been selected in the NSWCHSSA under-18 boys rugby union squad after they were standouts for North West at last week’s three-day carnival in Newcastle.

The NSWCHSSA under-18 boys state carnival was held at Harker Oval in New Lambton, where 10 teams full of players vying for selection into the state squad competed.

The two 17-year-old Narrabri High School boys, who are cousins, played crucial roles for North West as Sid lined up at fullback and Bernard played at scrum-half.

Alongside a group of very talented teammates, they guided North West to a third-placed finish after winning four of their five games across the three days.

Sid was then named the player of the tournament, an achievement the local school vice-captain was proud of.

“Winning player of the tournament was pretty special,” he told The Courier.

“It was pretty humbling.

“I knew that I’d played alright but I was surprised to win it.

“But it was more of a joy to win the bronze with the team. We were in the same position last year but got fourth after we got beat by Hunter.

“Winning the bronze medal with all those boys felt really good.

“Our coach (Jason Walker) has been pretty invested in it too. He’s been organising everything since last year and getting ready and thinking about plans for us, so it was good to get the bronze for him as well.”

North West was placed into Pool A alongside Sydney South West, South Coast, Riverina and the hosts of the tournament, Hunter.

Those five sides all played against one another once each in 40-minute contests.

On Tuesday, May 2, North West scored two wins as it knocked over Riverina 7-0 and then edged out South Coast 8-7.

North West kicked off the following day with a 24-14 win against Hunter but would later suffer its only loss of the carnival when it went down 19-11 against Sydney South West.

North West eventually finished as the second-ranked side in Pool A. The team finished on the same amount of points as pool winners South Coast, however, had to settle for second on for and against difference.

That meant that the North West boys progressed through to the third-place playoff game against pool B runners-up Sydney West on Thursday, May 4.

That match was a 60-minute game played across two 30-minute halves, which the North West boys won 33-24.

Sydney North was then crowned champions when the pool B winners downed the pool A winners South Coast 38-15 in the final.

Meanwhile, Bernard and Sid have also been soaring at club level alongside their teammates in the Narrabri Junior Rugby Club’s under-18s side.

The junior Blue Boars have played two matches in the 2023 North West Regional Youth Rugby Friday night competition and prevailed in both quite comfortably.

They trounced Farrer Gold 56-0 on home soil in round one and then they travelled to Moree for round two where they downed the junior Bulls 50-7.

This week, they travel to Tamworth to play against the Pirates in the third round of the campaign.

Sid told The Courier that this was one of his most enjoyable seasons of rugby yet.

His father, Denis Harvey, is the coach of the under-18s junior Blue Boars side, and the youngster said that the team was a close-knit group that enjoyed each other’s company.