Boggabri Kangaroos score a hard-fought victory over Kootingal-Moonbi to climb into second spot

Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club’s super start to the 2024 Group 4 Rugby League first grade season continued on Saturday when the Kangaroos outscored Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters 28-22 on home soil at Jubilee Oval.

The round five contest was played in wet and muddy conditions as rain prior to and during the match wreaked havoc, with both sides guilty of making a number of errors.

Boggabri managed to make the most of their chances though and they got the job done as they ran in six tries to Kootingal-Moonbi’s four.

The win was the Kangaroos’ first over the Roosters in first division and it saw the Boggabri men climb into second spot on the ladder. They have accumulated eight points across the opening five weeks of the campaign following four wins and one loss.

The Boggabri men went into the weekend ranked third and switched places with the Roosters, whose first loss of the season saw them drop from second to third.

The entire competition will sit out this weekend for the Scully Park NRL game bye, and Boggabri’s coach Shane Rampling declared that the challenge for the Kangaroos when their season resumes in round six on Saturday, May 18, against the Werris Creek Magpies away from home will be to fight to hold on to their spot on the ladder.

Rampling thought that they battled well in their round five victory and outmuscled the Roosters in what were less-than-deal conditions.

“The weather was no good for both sides, and I think both sides were guilty of dropping the ball, but we put them under a bit more pressure,” the Boggabri coach told The Courier.

“We kept in front of them, but we did let them score on the bell at half-time, which I wasn’t happy about because that came from one of our mistakes where we forced a pass and we didn’t defend it.

“But as the game wore on, I thought we got over them physically. We took it to them and our forwards aimed up, especially in defence. There were some big hits out there.”

Halfback Andrew Wallace was a standout for the Kangaroos. He led his side around the park superbly and his short-kicking game was electric, with a grubber kick into the corner in the 62nd minute leading to the highlight of the game when centre Rob Doolan flew onto the bouncing ball to score in the corner and put the Kangaroos in front 24-16.

The talented number seven also set up Doolan’s second try with three minutes to go with a brilliant bomb that Kootingal-Moonbi’s fullback Jack Rumsby dropped on the tryline before the centre reacted quickest to get the ball down in the in-goal and extend Boggabri’s lead to 28-22, which was the way it remained at full-time.

“On the back of the great work from our forwards, Andrew controlled the game I thought, and we created some opportunities,” Rampling said.

“He was fantastic. Not only does he control the game but he’s got really good chat and he knows how to calm the boys.

“I thought that his kicking game was really good too. He put Kooti under a fair bit of pressure.”

Second-rower Cameron Kerr was another player who impressed for the home side. Kerr produced two huge defensive plays that included a big hit in the third tackle of the game to win the home side possession early on, which led to their opening try, and the match-clinching tackle to take a Roosters player over the sideline as the visitors mounted a threatening attack down the left edge at the death as they attempted to find an equaliser.

Rampling said he was proud of the resilience his men showed on the day as they responded to three of the away side’s four tries with a four-pointer of their own within the next six minutes.

“We’ve been guilty in the past of dropping our heads when we concede or go behind, but this year we have got a good mental side to us where we come back out and we refocus and we get back in the grind,” Rampling said, adding he was proud of his men for getting the job done against a side that beat them with a try in the last minute at the same venue in 2023.

Saturday’s match was less than two minutes in when Kangaroos second-rower Malakai Kovekalou made a charging run and was tackled just short of the line before skipper Matt Gillham scooped up the ball from dummy half and dived over to score while his father Richard Gillham was still reading out the team lineups over the PA system.

The Roosters were next to score as prop Kyle Cochrane charged over and grounded between the sticks in the 12th minute, and they went ahead 6-4 when Brayden Gerrard slotted what was a simple conversion.

The Kangaroos regained the lead in the 18th minute when Gillham put Kovekalou over with a short ball close to the line and Doolan scored with the conversion to make the score 10-6.

It became 14-6 in the 24th minute when the hosts mounted a right-side raid as the ball made its way through five sets of hands before centre Epeli Vulaserau powered his way over five in from touch.

Boggabri looked set to go into the break leading by eight, but Kootingal-Moonbi went over for a try in the 39th minute two metres inside the right sideline through second-rower Liam Hatch, and Gerrard nailed a tricky conversion from out wide to make the score 14-12 to the hosts at the break.

The Roosters were reduced to 12 players when Leroy Livermore was given 10 in the bin for a push in the ruck in the 50th minute and Boggabri capitalised in the 53rd as Jay Urquhart charged onto a Gillham pass out of dummy half close to the tryline and forced his way over to score Boggabri’s fourth of the day. Doolan kicked the conversion to put the home side ahead 20-12, but Kootingal-Moonbi hit back just four minutes later when halfback Rhys Davis grubbered the ball into the in-goal and Hatch flew onto it to score his second of the match as the score became 20-16.

Doolan then scored his first of the game in the 62nd minute, but the Roosters refused to go down without a fight and they made the score 24-22 in the 73rd minute when Billy Nean crossed for the visitors’ fourth try and Gerrard kicked their third conversion. Doolan then made it a six-point ball-game with his second try in the 77th minute before Kerr’s superb tackle ensured Boggabri would finish the day in second place as they held on to win 28-22.

The three Group 4 best and fairest points when to Gillham, who had yet another solid game in the green and gold number nine jersey, and the other two selections were Roosters players as Anders Glew and Kyle Cochrane picked up the two and one.

Moree Boars finished the weekend in outright first position on the ladder with 10 points after they scored their fifth win in as many games when they downed Wee Waa 60-0 in a contest that finished early due to the 60-point mercy rule.

The other round five winners were the Dungowan Cowboys and the North Tamworth Bears, who were both victorious away from home. The Cowboys travelled to Collins Park on Saturday where they prevailed 48-14, and the Bears met Gunnedah at Kitchener Park on Sunday where they earned a hard-fought 22-20 win. Werris Creek had the round five bye.

In the other games played at Jubilee Oval on Saturday, Kootingal-Moonbi won the reserve grade clash 8-6 after the score was locked at nil-all at the half-time break, and the visitors also won the ladies league tag match as they kicked off proceedings with a 54-0 victory.

The Kangaroos’ reserve grade points came via a Steven Yorkshire try and a Clayton Bruce goal, and teammate Andrew Cameron was awarded two Group 4 best and fairest points. Boggabri’s Cassidy Morley picked up one Group 4 best and fairest point in the league tag clash.