“REALLY PROUD”: Narrabri Bluebirds score their first win of the season

The Narrabri Bluebirds are heading into ladies’ day with a win under their belt after they scored a 14-10 victory against the Moree Boars at Boughton Oval on Sunday.

The local league tag team went into the ninth round of Group 4 Rugby League’s 2023 season searching for its first win in nearly a year and it got the job done in entertaining fashion as Lidia McCauley charged 80 metres to score the match-winner with only a few minutes remaining.

The Bluebirds earned their only win of the 2022 campaign on ladies’ day at Collins Park in June last year, and now almost a year on, their hard work and dedication have paid off again.

Club president and league tag coach Kristie Toomey was full of praise for her side and told The Courier that the win was well-deserved in a hard-fought game.

“I’m really proud,” she said.

“The girls can really hold their heads up high after our win. Their hard work’s really paying off and you can see the consistency of all of our girls who are putting effort in each week.

“We’ve been building up all year. We have a very young side but we knew a win would come, not straight away, but we knew a win would come this season.

“As I said to the girls, if they keep putting the hard work in at training and putting in on game day, a win would be coming.

“It was a great game, I thought. It wasn’t one-sided or anything like that.”

Prior to her match-winning heroics, McCauley opened the scoring earlier in the game with a try in the first half before Moree equalised with its first four-pointer of the day.

Tyanna Gaydon restored Narrabri’s lead with a try before half-time and Toomey then kicked the Bluebirds out to a 10-4 lead at the break with a successful conversion.

The hosts levelled it up again late in the game with a converted try to lock the score up at 10-all, however, the Bluebirds had the final say when McCauley made an 80-metre match-winning run to make the final score 14-10.

She told The Courier that she was proud of her teammates.

“I am proud of the girls,” McCauley said.

“The encouragement and positivity on the field was exceptional.

“We supported each other no matter what.

“Everyone was so thrilled to have won our first game of the season.”

The lung-busting run to the tryline took it out of McCauley and she went off for an interchange afterwards, but the damage was done as her side held on to win its first game of the season.

“I was scoping the field for gaps, then I was passed the ball and went myself,” she said of the build-up to that try.

“As I got through the line, I was face-on with the fullback and I was lucky enough to get around her.

“I ran about 80 metres, but it felt a lot further than that.

“I could see the Moree girls out of the corner of my eye right behind me the whole way, and Meika Foley too, so I knew I had backup.

“As I got closer to the tryline, I didn’t look back and just kept going.”

McCauley has been one of Narrabri Bluebirds’ best and most consistent players over the years and that was how her performance was judged on Sunday when she was awarded three Group 4 best and fairest points.

Her younger sister Milli picked up one point as well, while two went to Moree’s Codie Ryan.

Toomey said that the three points were well-deserved for the Bluebirds gun.

“Lidia did everything well,” Toomey said.

“She took the line on and defended really well. I really think she deserved to get the three points.”

Sunday’s result was one that will add excitement to Narrabri Rugby League Football Club’s ladies’ day at Collins Park this Saturday when the local club hosts the North Tamworth Bears in all three grades.

Narrabri and District Junior Rugby League’s under-15s side will also be in action when it lines up in a curtain-raiser game against Norths Black from 11am.

The Bluebirds will then kick off at 12.15pm and will line up in special ladies’ day jerseys on the day, and Toomey cannot wait to back up from her side’s victory against the team on top of the table.

North Tamworth has accumulated 16 points this year, having won eight games and lost one. One of those wins was against Narrabri back in round three at Jack Woolaston Oval when the North Tamworth ladies prevailed 62-4, but Narrabri has well and truly improved since then.

“We are excited,” Toomey said of the ladies’ day fixture.

“The girls will be confident.

“If we defend really well against Norths, anything can happen. I want our girls to feel confident and I want them to have fun like we did on the weekend.”

Toomey said that the Bluebirds and the entire Narrabri Rugby League Football Club really appreciated the support they had received in 2023 and hoped another big crowd would turn up to Collins Park for ladies’ day this Saturday.