Narrabri Touch hosts another entertaining grand final night event

One of the closest grand final nights in recent history dazzled the crowd at Dangar Park on Sunday as Narrabri Touch’s 2023 campaign season two competitions wrapped up in style.

There were four grand finals played across the evening, with one decided by a single point and the other three decided by just two points.

New men’s A-grade champions were crowned as Grumley Builders’ remarkable run that dated back to 2018 and included four consecutive premierships came to an end at the hands of Lations.

In a rematch of the 2022 decider, Lations were able to flip the script on the Grumley Builders as they downed the defending champs 8-6 to complete a memorable campaign in brilliant fashion.

They went through the entire season undefeated, winning all 13 regular season games to finish ranked first on the ungraded ladder and then the A-grade ladder before getting the job done in the finals series with wins in the major semi-final and finally the decider to stretch their impressive streak to 15 games.

The grand final was their toughest contest of the season as just two tries separated the sides at full-time.

Josh Trindall bagged a double for Lations in their 8-6 victory, with the other six tries shared between Chris Clark, Jordan Harvey, Brenton and Isaiah Cochrane, Declan Rooney and Axel Currey.

Three of the Grumley Builders’ tries were scored by Linton Grumley as he grabbed the second of two hat-tricks on grand final night, with the other three tries shared between Jydon Hill, Jock Small and Lincoln Saunders.

The ladies’ A-grade final was also decided by two tries as SPA Redbacks downed Twisted Blisters 6-4 to claim their second straight premiership.

Just as they did in 2022 against Agies Ladies at Cooma Oval, the Redbacks went into this year’s decider as the underdogs against the in-form minor premiers.

However, they were able to step up again on grand final night and get the job done.

Tashanny Clark scored the first of two hat-tricks across the four games, while teammates Emma John, Asher Kelly and Tianne Parker all crossed once each.

Bella Cruickshank bagged a double for Twistered Blisters and her side’s other two tries were scored by Taylor Horne and Matilda Currey.

Narrabri Touch’s grand final event kicked off with the ladies’ B-grade decider, which was the closest game of the evening as CBRE edged out Hounddogs 2-1.

Bec Warnock and Jenny Schwager crossed for CBRE’s tries and Jessica McFetridge went over for Hounddogs.

The B-grade men’s champions for 2023 are DTA Timber Lumberjacks, who defended their 2022 premiership with a 4-2 victory against Cougars in the big dance.

Cooper Brayshaw and James Albert scored doubles for the Lumberjacks, while Kaleb Mowle crossed twice for Cougars.

Narrabri Touch then held their 2023 season two awards presentation after the A-grade men’s final had wrapped up.

Players of the final were announced, with Lations’ Josh Trindall (A-grade men), SPA Redbacks’ Brooke Field (A-grade ladies), the Lumberjacks’ Morgan Jones (B-grade men) and CBRE’s Bec Warnock (B-grade ladies) earning those awards.

Three dedicated non-playing refs in Terrence Duncan, Ben Redfern and Wayne Nott were acknowledged, and Pat Mowle was announced as the winner of the referees’ award.

The leading try-scorers were also announced, with Toni Gale taking out the ladies’ competition honour with 27 tries and Rowan Keeler winning the men’s with 19 tries.

Narrabri Touch’s president Mereka Gleeson told The Courier that grand final night was the perfect send off for another enjoyable season and year for the club.

“What a way to end season two for the men’s and ladies competitions, with some very close tight games fought out to the very end,” she said.

“The games did not disappoint, with high-quality touch being played.

“In between men’s B-grade and ladies’ A-grade, we had a junior exhibition game, and those young 11/12-year-old boys and girls put on a fabulous game with wonderful sportsmanship.

“The Narrabri Rotary Club kept us all fed with delicious steak and sausage sandwiches. The kids had face painting and pass the footy challenge.

“We had some hurdles to overcome late in the piece to get our grand final event over the line but the committee all pulled together to make it such a successful night.

“The atmosphere and crowd were really good and it was great to see we had heaps of supporters.

“The look on the kids’ faces as they saw and ran to Santa coming in on a fire truck was the best. He treated the kids with lollies, vortexes and frisbees.

“Here’s to a bigger and better 2024.”

Meanwhile, the junior players will still take the fields until next month.

“Junior touch will continue to run until (Monday) December 11 when we will enjoy the final game and the junior Yowies Christmas party – more details to come on that,” Narrabri Touch said.