Three Narrabri Blue Boars juniors made their highly-anticipated Dangar Park returns in style on Saturday as Martha Harvey, Joey Fowler and Sid Harvey helped guide the NSW Waratahs to a memorable Santos Cup double during the 2025 Santos Festival of Rugby.
Martha came off the bench in the number 23 jersey with about 30 minutes remaining in the women’s match and helped inspire the Waratahs to a 34-21 comeback win against the Queensland Reds.
That was NSW’s third consecutive women’s Santos Cup victory since they won the inaugural match in Narrabri back in 2023, when Martha made her Waratahs debut as an 18-year-old.
The men’s match saw Sid and Joey guide their side to a dominant 47-19 victory over the Reds.
They both started the match and they played 80 minutes each. Both boys were solid throughout the game and had several standout moments in front of a loud and proud home crowd.
That victory not only saw them win back the Santos Cup after losing it to the Reds for the first time last year in Roma, but it also saw them earn five crucial points in the 2025 Super Rugby Aus competition.
It was a must-win match for the Waratahs men and the bonus point victory saw them leapfrog the Reds into second place.
They will now meet the winless ACT Brumbies in the nation’s capital this Saturday, and a win in that match will see the Tahs join the Western Force in the October 5 grand final.
For the Narrabri trio, the 2025 Santos Festival of Rugby offered an experience that they will never forget as they signed more autographs than they ever could have imagined for local youngsters whose position they were in not too long ago.
The combination of winning Saturday’s games and getting to play at home in front of family and friends were the highlights for all three.
“Winning in front of family and friends at home in Narrabri was pretty special,” Joey said.
“To be honest, I felt like I was a little kid again when I got out there on the field. Everything just came back to me, the memories of playing junior footy and kicking the footy there with dad, and I think the nerves settled from there.
“It was a very physical and fast game. It was quite slippery too. The deck was quite wet.
“We know how we can perform when things go our way. We moved the ball really well and we set the tone with our physical dominance up front.
“I think we played how we wanted to play. It was very pleasing, and hopefully we take that into next week.”
For Sid, getting back home and playing in front of a home crowd was also a special experience.
“It’s pretty satisfying,” Sid said.
“Coming home is a feeling in itself, but for us to come here and put on a performance like that, especially after last weekend (a 24-3 loss), I’m pretty proud of that performance.
“It makes it better doing it here in front of a lot of these young kids because they love it.
“It’s a historic rivalry for the Waratahs against the Reds. They’ve been playing I think close to 130 years against each other. We were 0-2 against them this year, so to get one back on them was a really nice feeling.
“It’s really special to win the Santos Cup too. I value that pretty highly. I was here watching the last two games here.
“I felt pretty at home and calm out there. It is such a great club and a great ground here.
“Last week we weren’t in the contest physically, and this week it was important that we matched up physically. I think we didn’t just match up, but we dominated physically.
“We can take a lot of confidence and positives out of that, and hopefully we can take it into next week against the Brumbies.”
Sid and Joey have both been named to start in the round three clash in the ACT.
For Martha, sharing the experience of winning the Santos Cup with her younger brother was one of her new favourite memories.
“I think Narrabri does this festival the best. They make a whole weekend of it and make everyone feel so welcome, and the kids love it,” Martha said.
“When it first came here, I played for the Blue Boars and I was fan-girling over all the players who were there. Then two years later, playing for the
Waratahs was pretty surreal, but this time I’m a bit older and can understand how special it really is.
“The girls have made it so exciting. They’ve all made it so much fun, and it’s been special to be able to share my hometown with them.
“It was so good to get to do it here with Sid and Joey too. They both got a start and played so well.
“Us three signing autographs and getting photos with all these young kids was so surreal.
“In our game, I came on in the second half and I was gassed. It was so tough out there. It was very hot.
“The grass was thick and heavy because of the rain (on Friday night), so there was a lot of lactic acid.
“The game slowed down towards the end, so when I came on, I wanted to pick up the pace.
“The bomb squad that came on straight away made an impact on the game. They did their job and took control.”
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