Boggabri Kangaroos beat Dungowan

Boggabri Kangaroos kept their finals hopes alive when they scored another home ground victory at Jubilee Oval on Saturday in round 11 of the Group 4 Rugby League first grade season.

Boggabri hosted the second-placed Dungowan Cowboys and crushed the visitors’ slim minor premiership hopes with a 42-34 win.

Despite winning that high-scoring clash, the Kangaroos remained four points outside the top four with now just three rounds remaining after the fourth-placed North Tamworth Bears prevailed 60-0 on home soil at Jack Woolaston Oval against Gunnedah Bulldogs to join the third-placed Cowboys on 14 points.

Boggabri finished the weekend on 10 points, two behind the fifth-placed Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters.

There is a general bye this weekend and the Kangaroos will be relying on results to go their way when the 2023 season resumes on Saturday, July 15, before they travel to Collins Park to meet the Narrabri Blues the following day.

At Jubilee Oval on Saturday, the hosts outscored Dungowan eight tries to six and both teams added 10 extra points as they kicked five goals each.

Boggabri’s Dylan Lake starred for his side following a position change that saw him move from fullback to five-eighth. He crossed for three tries, set up three more and kicked two 40-20s in the eight-point victory.

Teammates Clayton Bruce, Liam Doyle, Rob Doolan, Andrew Wallace and Cameron Kerr scored a try each and Doolan added the 10 extra points off the boot with all five of his side’s goals.

“Thankfully the boys found a way to win. It was a good result for us,” Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club first grade coach Shane Rampling told The Courier.

“In attack, I thought we were really good, really sharp.

“It was our sponsors day, so like old boys day, we wanted to lift and give them something to cheer.

“It was a really free-flowing game. It was really attractive to watch, except if you’re a coach.

“But some of the people watching said it was the best game they’d seen.

“From a coach’s point of view, there were highs and lows. But we got the win in the end.”

Rampling thought the adjustments in the spine benefited the Kangaroos and commended his forward pack for matching it with the Cowboys’ big men.

“I shifted Dylan Lake into five-eighth and promoted young Charlie Bruce from reserve grade to fullback,” Rampling said.

“He’s been playing really well in reserve grade and I thought that he deserved an opportunity, and he did really well. He scored a try on debut and took some really high bombs. He had a really, really good game.

“Dylan and Andrew Wallace in the halves directed us around well and turned Dungowan around with some good kicks and they both set up some good tries.

“Kaylan (Murray) went into the centres (to make way for Lake) and he played really well there, so did Rob (Doolan). They had really good games.

“I have to give my forward pack a real big rap too.

“Dungowan is a big, physical forward pack and they caused us a fair few problems when their captain-coach Brett Jarrett came on and made some big strong runs and also threw some offloads.

“But we contained them after that and we got back into a bit of an arm wrestle. Our forwards did the hard work and let our backs do the job.”

Rampling said that this weekend’s break had come at the perfect time for his side as several players have been playing through injury or picked up niggles against the Cowboys.

Other round 11 winners across the weekend were the Moree Boars, the North Tamworth Bears and the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters.

The Boars wrapped up the minor premiership with a 33-32 golden point win away from home against Werris Creek Magpies, who picked up one competition point in that loss to move above the Cowboys into second place on the ladder.

The Cowboys finished the weekend in third and were joined on 14 points by the North Tamworth Bears after they beat the Bulldogs 60-0 on home soil.

The only Sunday game in round 11 was won by the Roosters, which scored a 54-24 home ground victory against the Narrabri Blues.