Narrabri Blue Boars dethroned after falling short against the Moree Bulls

Moree Bulls got revenge at Dangar Park following last season’s Central North Rugby Union first grade grand final loss against the Blue Boars in Narrabri when they returned home as 25-20 winners on Saturday.

The two rivals went head-to-head in the seventh round of the 2025 season and they both registered four tries each across the 80 minutes.

Goal-kicking was the difference in the end as a Moree penalty goal just before half-time and the conversion of their last try got them home by five points after Narrabri went zero from four from the tee.

The away side led 10-0 midway through the first half before Narrabri crossed for two quick tries to equalise, but the hosts then found themselves behind 18-10 at the half-time break.

The Blue Boars started fastest in the second stanza and went ahead 20-18 after 50 minutes, but Moree regained the lead with a converted try in the 63rd minute.

That made the score 25-20, which was the way it remained when the full-time whistle sounded as the Bulls held on to secure their fourth win of the campaign.

Narrabri’s head coach Craig Gleeson told The Courier he thought his men impressed in patches and did well to get themselves in a position to win the match despite playing 20 minutes with 14 men following a yellow card in each half, but thought they did not take enough of their chances.

“I’m a little disappointed with the way we played, even though four tries each is not a terrible result,” Gleeson said.

“We got a bit frantic at times and our ball control wasn’t there. We turned over a lot of possession, and I think that the execution on some of our decision-making wasn’t great, which put us under pressure a few times.

“There’s a lot of improvement in us from that game, but the positives for us are that we’ve got quite a few out, and it wasn’t our best performance but we were only a few conversions from winning it.

“We need to turn five points into seven a lot more than we’re doing at the moment. Taking penalty shots can also make a big difference in letting us play the game at our pace.

“Goal-kicking is a weakness that we need to address, and it’s not an easy fix. A lot of personal effort needs to go into those roles.

“Still, we walked away from the game with two points, which is still something because bonus points can make a big difference on the final table at the end of the year.

“Our aim was to win that game though, and I think if we played our best footy, we had every chance to do that.”

Moree landed the first punch with a 10th-minute try in the left corner through winger Asesela Ravuvu, and it was a double blow for the Blue Boars as Joe Maunder was yellow-carded for not wrapping his arms during a tackle earlier in the set.

The Blue Boars were then forced to defend inside their own half for the majority of the next 10 minutes, and the pressure eventually cracked when Moree fed a scrum close to the tryline and forced their way over, with skipper Duncan Woods grounding to make the score 10-0.

Narrabri’s forward pack had a point to prove after conceding that try and they muscled up as they won a scrum against the feed in Moree territory just under four minutes later, and the hosts made that count when they got close to the line and fullback Jake Packer produced an explosive step off his right foot to beat his defender out wide on the right and cross for his side’s first try.

That made the score 10-5, which became 10-all seven minutes later when Packer produced an even more devastating step off his left foot close to the line down the left edge before diving over to score his second try.

Moree regained the lead in the 37th minute as they camped themselves on Narrabri’s line again and halfback Nick Smith was able to burrow over, but the fifth conversion of the game went begging as the score remained 15-10 to the Bulls.

It looked set to remain that way as Narrabri fed a scrum close to half-time, but Moree won a penalty 35 metres out from the posts and Zac Spain nailed the shot at goal to add three extra points and make the score 18-10 at the break.

The Blue Boars came out firing in the second stanza and crossed for tries through Sam Knight and James Albert inside the first 10 minutes to take their first lead of the match at 20-18 with half an hour remaining.

It remained that way until the 63rd minute when Moree regained the lead through their skipper as Woods took one of his trademark quick taps from 10 metres out and powered his way through the Blue Boars’ defence to score.

Spain then added the extras to put the visitors ahead 25-20, and that was the way it remained as the full-time whistle sounded.

Narrabri created several chances to cross for the try they needed during the final 15 minutes, even after Packer was yellow carded and they were forced to play the final nine with 14 men, but there would be no fairy tale finish as there was when the two sides met on grand final day at Dangar Park last year for the hosts as Moree held on to win 25-20.

The loss was Narrabri’s second of the season and saw them drop from first to third. They picked up two bonus points for scoring four tries and losing by less than eight points, which saw them move to 26 points.

They now trail new ladder leaders Gunnedah Red Devils (29) by three points and second-placed Moree (27) by one.

Gunnedah beat Tamworth Pirates 45-31 in the only other match played in round seven, while fourth-placed Quirindi Lions (25) and fifth-placed Inverell Highlanders (14) sat out with byes. Pirates (14) are now last.

The Blue Boars are back at home this Saturday when the second half of the season begins and they welcome Quirindi to Dangar Park for the first time this year.

Elsewhere, Gunnedah will host the Bulls in a top-of-the-table clash and Pirates will travel to Inverell looking to fight their way off the bottom of the ladder.

Meanwhile, Narrabri lost 33-14 in reserve grade and 40-26 in third grade on Saturday, but prevailed 54-17 in the women’s 10s competition.