Razorbacks rebrand ahead of NDCA’s 2024/25 season

One of the Narrabri District Cricket Association’s first grade teams enters the 2024/25 season with both a new look and a new name for what they are hoping will be a significantly more successful campaign.

The Wilga Hotel Razorbacks Cricket Club, formerly known as the Western Razorbacks, launched in 2018 as the Western Imperial Razorbacks and was a Wee Waa-based club that gave players from the old Pilliga District Cricket Association competition a chance to play quality cricket week in and week out.

Going into the 2021/22 campaign, the club had lost almost all of their foundation players from a brilliant debut season that saw them win the first grade T20 premiership and the first grade one day minor premiership, which led to them finishing last in the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 comps with one win and an abundance of forfeits.

There were also a handful of games in those three seasons where they played short or filled the team with people who had never played a game of cricket before.

They were also forced to drop out of the second grade competition as they could only field one side.

That slide has prompted a rebrand this year and the side has jumped on board with the Wilga Hotel.

It will still feature plenty of players from the Wee Waa district, such as the club’s president Greg Melton, former captain Dylan Smith and players such as Jay Hall, Steve Phelps and Josh Schwager.

However, it is hoped that the new name will encourage players from the Narrabri area, especially those new to town, to join, which Melton told The Courier was already paying dividends.

The side was struggling for numbers a month ago but has 16 registered at the moment, which Melton hopes will grow as the season approaches.

Matt Bradshaw will step up and lead the side as its captain for the 2024/25 campaign, which Melton said would be great for the club.

“He’s young and enthusiastic and a student of the game,” Melton said.

“He’s a good cricketer, and some of the things I’ve heard him say and his ideas are really smart.

“He’ll do well with a bit of responsibility and the whole team is backing him.”

“We’d gotten up to about 22 players at one stage but I’ve had four or five pull out due to them working away or chasing harvest, so we’ve now got 16 registered and two or three more who are happy to fill in during the season,” the Razorbacks’ president added.

“Of the 16 registered, 12 are affected by farming. We have picked up five new guys from what we had last year though, which is a good thing.

“Even though we have a lot of guys who will be affected by farming and harvest, this is my third season since I’ve been home and I think the club is in the best position it’s been in at the start of a season.

“Rebranding to the Wilga and trying to start afresh has helped a lot. It has pushed things forward a fair bit.

“It’s going to be a challenge again this year, that’s no secret. Farming will wipe out blokes at times. But we have a platform there now where we can pull blokes in to play, and the late starts for T20s and day/nighters will help as well.

“Even though we will struggle at times, there will be times we’ll have 16 available and it’ll be a headache to pick a team.

“We’re in a better spot than this time last year.”

Melton said that anyone who wishes to come and have a run with the Wilga Razorbacks this season is more than welcome.

“The more the merrier,” he said.

The Razorbacks will wear a uniform that is predominantly red and also includes grey and black as the NDCA plays all white ball cricket this season.