Narrabri Blues end their season in style after beating Wee Waa in a classic at Collins Park

Narrabri Blues and Wee Waa Panthers reignited their rivalry at Collins Park on Sunday and they both farewelled the season in style while giving their fans plenty to cheer about.

The two clubs have done it tough in the first grade competition this year, with Sunday’s round 18 match being the Group 4 Rugby League wooden spoon battle.

The Blues went into the final round a point ahead of Wee Waa and they got the job done with a 36-22 victory against their local rivals.

Players from both sides were sin-binned as emotions boiled over on a few occasions, but they managed to give what was a large crowd at Collins Park an entertaining 80 minutes of footy.

The stocks of Isaiah Cochrane, the son of one of the greats of Group 4 Rugby League, Brenton Cochrane, continued to rise as the gun halfback produced a brilliant performance that included a hat-trick, despite having already played a game as he lined up at five-eighth in the Narrabri Blues’ 40-8 under-18s win against Wee Waa.

Dylan Segundo also scored a hat-trick for the Blues as he picked up where he left off at Cook Oval earlier in the year. Segundo scored three tries in 19 minutes against the Panthers back in round nine in a game that was abandoned not long after he had crossed for his third. This time around, it took the Blues centre just five minutes to open the scoring and he crossed again in the 10th minute to make the score 10-0 after Clifford Toomey had converted his first.

Cochrane then crossed for his first of the day in the 31st minute and Toomey added the extras to make the score 16-0.

The Panthers hit back in the 29th minute when prop Angus Galagher went over for their first try of the game to make the score 16-4, which became 22-4 four minutes later when Narrabri prop Cameron King scored the home side’s fourth and Toomey slotted his third goal.

Wee Waa were determined to find the tryline before the half-time break and they managed to do so as Bailey Organ went over in the 38th minute. Hooker Dylan Harradine-Hall then converted the back-rower’s try to make the score 22-10.

The Blues took that 12-point lead into the half-time break and extended it to 16 points just one minute into the second stanza as Segundo completed his hat-trick.

Harradine-Hall then scored and converted a try in the 50th minute to reduce the deficit to 10 as the scoreboard read 26-16, but the Wee Waa comeback was dealt a blow in the 57th minute when Cochrane scored his second and Toomey kicked the Blues out to a 32-16 lead.

The Panthers refused to lie down and they hit back in the 64th minute when Organ crossed for his second of the day and Harradine-Hall added the extras to make it a 10-point ball game again at 32-22.

The away side continued to push hard to find the try that would have put them in a position to score their first win of the campaign, but Cochrane put the final result beyond doubt with four minutes remaining as his third try made the score 36-22.

Both coaches were proud of their sides after the match and are looking forward to building towards the 2025 campaign during the off-season.

For Narrabri’s coach Glenn ‘Snow’ Collins, it was the perfect way to end the season.

“It was a hard game. A typical game between us,” he told Group 4 Media.
“Hard and physical.”

“They can all hold their heads up.

“It was a good way to finish the season. We had a good crowd too.”

“Isaiah (Cochrane) played 18s for us and came straight on to first grade as well,” he added.

“He had to come off with about 20 minutes left because of cramps but he got what he needed and went back on.

“He went really well. He’s a good kid and has a great future.”

Wee Waa’s coach Matt Freeman said he could not have been more proud of his players who have battled as hard as they could all season.

“The last three weeks we’ve been working on being mentally stronger,” Freeman told Group 4 Media.

“We’ve been working on holding onto the ball and not giving it away cheaply. We stuck to that today and showed we are getting better as a team.

“Narrabri were just a little bit too strong today.”

“They all dug deep,” he said of his men.

“I couldn’t be more proud of them. Everyone did their job.”

The result saw Narrabri end the year in eighth place on the nine-team table with eight points following two wins and 14 losses, while the Panthers finished last on five points following a washed-out draw and 15 losses. Both sides picked up four points each from their two byes.

The two other matches played on Sunday at Collins Park were won by Narrabri as the Blues beat Wee Waa 40-8 in under-18s and 13-12 in ladies league tag.

The league tag contest was a classic between the two local rivals and it went right down to the wire.

Wee Waa’s Bella Cruickshank scored two tries and converted them both in the opening 25 minutes to give her side a 12-0 lead at the break, but Narrabri hit back 10 minutes into the second stanza as Alex Bennett scored their first try of the contest and her teammate Kaitlyn Armitage converted it.

The score became 12-all a minute later when Tashanny Clark converted a Krista Zarka try.

It was still locked at 12-all until Clark slotted a field goal from close range with less than two minutes on the clock to win it for the Bluebirds as they prevailed 13-12.

The win was their fourth of the year and it saw them rise above Wee Waa into seventh place. They ended the season with 10 points following their four wins and 12 losses, while Wee Waa finished on nine points following one win, two draws, one washed-out draw and 12 losses.

Narrabri’s under-18s side missed out on a semi-final spot after they ended up locked on 20 points with fourth-placed North Tamworth but had to settle for fifth on for and against difference. The Narrabri boys won seven games and lost eight this year.

Wee Waa finished ranked last on the six-team under-18s ladder after going through winless. However, it was a tremendous effort from them in their first season back as they often played undermanned.

In reserve grade, Narrabri Blues had the round 18 bye and they ended up finishing last after losing all 14 of their games in 2024, two of which were by forfeit.