Written by Mick Coffey, president, Narrabri Rugby Club
The 2023 season for the Blue Boars has been a long one, beginning back in January to prepare for the Santos Festival of Rugby in February, which began our playing activities for the year. January feels like a long time ago now, and since then, there have been memorable wins, forgettable losses, horrible injuries, the emergence of talented players, moments of great achievement and also some times of disappointment – all part and parcel of a rugby union season, but it feels magnified somewhat this year due to the fact it has been a nine-month season.
Only two clubs – the Blue Boars and the Tamworth Pirates – had all three teams make the finals this year. This is a great achievement for our club, and despite the men’s teams not being on the field on grand final day, it is still, nonetheless, something to be proud of.
Our first grade team were defending a premiership this year, which is quite harder than winning the first one as every single week, opposition sides are rising to “knock the champions off.” Added to the equation were injuries to several key players throughout the year, which saw coach Jake Packer unable to put the same line-up on the field week to week. This disruption to the selection process then flows down to reserve grade, who were constantly reshuffling their line-up, at times still on the day of the game, to get a competitive team on the paddock. It is a credit to Dylan Duncan, Chase Magner and Todd Farrer the way the reserve grade team kept showing up, putting in, and eventually making the finals.
By no means has this year been easy for the men’s teams, with plenty of challenges to deal with which I’m sure lesser people would’ve put in the too-hard basket and not worried about, but these men, along with assistance at various stages throughout the year from the likes of Hunter Harley, Steve Parish, Jack O’Neill, Matt Radford, and Dylan Armytage made sure the teams were on the field.
Our women’s 10s team have just 40 minutes of rugby left for 2023 in this Saturday’s grand final against a strong Gunnedah team. The commitment and passion they have for the club, the team and the game is inspiring to witness and they will put on a thrilling display in the grand final, I’m sure, so make the effort to get to Tamworth on Saturday and see for yourself. The ladies respond to change and challenges each and every week, have developed a strong skill set, and play entertaining rugby. Coach Peta Cox has done an outstanding job with the team, assisted by manager Alex Reed and keen water-runner Kate Brown.
Then there’s Wayne Nott. Notty is the constant in the equation year to year for the playing group. He is so much more than just the strapper – he’s also the lost and found department, injury recovery treatment, deliverer of hard truths, surrogate father figure, medic, disciplinarian, counsellor, doer of the undoable and most importantly, a mate to all. Huge recognition and thanks must go to Wayne for all he does in the background for the club, without him involved, we would be very busy trying to fill the gaps.
Never far away on the sidelines as medics are Jordy Guest and Tenayah Woodward – thanks for all your work ladies. The injury side of our game is often the ugly and gross side of things, and you handle it with great aplomb.
Narrabri is fortunate to still have a locally owned newspaper, which puts great effort into covering and supporting local clubs. It is marvellous to have our club in print every week to allow everyone the opportunity to keep up to date with the games. Thank you to Ian, Wanda, Blake, Dylan and the rest of the crew at The Courier.
Clubs are only as strong as their committee enables them to be, and our club is blessed with a fantastic committee who are progressive, hardworking, and passionate, and must be thanked for their time and effort in 2023. At times, there are challenges and obstacles that are not always very pleasant or require difficult conversations that are not shied away from to ensure there is a reasonable and logical outcome. There is a significant amount of time and effort behind the scenes to run our club, which usually goes unthought of by most.
Our executive committee of Alex Reed (vice-president), Tori Allison (secretary) and Daniel Kahl (treasurer) are special people who do the bulk of the work and are well supported by our general committee members Gerri Cruckshank (sponsorships), Ben Redfern (gameday table manager and ground announcer), Toby Keys, Linton Grumley, Todd Farrer, Jenny Schwager, Nick Anderson, Breeanna Rose and Tristan Petty.
Our sponsors have, as always, been staunch supporters of the club this year, and we thank you all for your sponsorship. We feel the Blue Boars provide great value to sponsors, with lots of great feedback about the club and the fact we now have a waiting list for businesses to gain a fence sign position demonstrates this! With 2024 being the 60th anniversary of the Blue Boars, next year will be a high focus for the club, in turn meaning great exposure for our sponsors – we look forward to these great partnerships continuing.
We are also fortunate to have a few great local businesses and organisations involved with the club to run a smooth show on gamedays. Tianne Parker and Murray Scott from M’Tee run the bar, Ash and Dave Kneale from Thyme 2 Eat operate the canteen and Cara Stoltenberg and the crew from Country Education Foundation of the Namoi staff the gate each home game day. Thanks to these three groups for making game days a great experience for all who come to Dangar Park.
Regardless of whether we agree with them all the time, if we don’t have our referees, we don’t have a game. The Blue Boars would like to thank all referees who have contributed to our season this year and hope that you look forward to coming to Dangar Park, and that refereeing our teams week to week is something you enjoy. I will point out, though, that the current referees aren’t getting any younger, and there are not many new recruits joining their ranks. If you’re someone who is looking for a way to stay involved with rugby, keep fit and give back a bit, I’d really urge you to consider refereeing.
So, with just the 2023 grand final this Saturday and the club presentation night the following Friday, September 22, remaining for season 2023, the end is nigh. But both will be sensational events, with the best of club passion and spirit on display.
I urge you to join us at both and be part of the excitement.
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