Blue Boars kick off CNRU women’s 10s competition premiership defence with a big win

Narrabri Rugby Club’s women’s 10s team kicked off its Central North Rugby Union premiership defence in dominant fashion on Saturday when it defeated the Moree Bulls at Weebolla Oval.

The Blue Boars went through the entire 2025 campaign undefeated on their way to a third straight minor/major premiership double, and they picked up right where they left off as they outscored their rivals 31-5 in enemy territory.

Narrabri ran in five tries through five different try-scorers, and they held the Bulls to just one try across the 40-minute match.

Captain-coach April Smith also contributed six points off the boot via three conversions as she enjoyed a winning start to her tenure at the helm of the champion team.

The victory was an even more impressive one given there were several new faces in the side, and also given that they were missing two of their leaders in Peta Cox and Toni Rae.

With no Cassidy Morley in 2026 and a couple of other players away in round one, the opening clash could have been a tricky one for the Blue Boars, but they started the season in style with the 26-point victory.

The win was also their 17th on the trot in the CNRU competition, dating back to August 2024 when they went down in the major semi-final against Gunnedah.

They bounced back from that loss to win the preliminary final and the grand final before they went 12-0 in the regular season in 2025 and won the major semi-final and the grand final to end last year on a 16-game streak.

Saturday’s match was not all one-way traffic as the scoreline may suggest, with Moree taking the lead after the score remained locked at 0-0 at the quarter-time break. However, once Narrabri went behind, they found another gear and ran away with the game.

Moree took the lead two-and-a-half minutes after they had kicked off to get the second quarter underway. It was Katerina Townsend who got the ball rolling for the hosts after she charged onto an offload on the halfway line and ran 50 metres down the left edge to score. The Bulls missed the conversion as the score remained 5-0.

Smith came up with a huge play from the kick-off as she stormed onto the Imogen Hope kick and secured possession for her side. The visitors were then able to camp themselves deep in Moree territory before they capiatlised with a try in the corner through 2024 premiership winner Shaine Maunder, who has returned to the team after a year off in 2025.

Maunder’s try made the score 5-all with two minutes remaining in the quarter, and she put Narrabri in a position to strike again shortly after the siren sounded as she made a break down the left edge. They were able to make the most of that opportunity as Smith made a break of her own and ran 40 metres to score before converting to put Narrabri ahead 12-5 at the main break.

With Cox absent for Saturday’s round one game, the Blue Boars looked to props Kim Bange and Ashlyn Summers to stand up and win the battle against Moree. They did that throughout the first half and then took it to another level in the third quarter as they scored a try each to give Narrabri a comfortable lead.

Summers struck first when she scooped the ball out of a ruck close to the line and dived over to score, which Smith was able to convert to put the Blue Boars ahead 19-5 in the 23rd minute. A Lidia McCauley linebreak two minutes later put Narrabri back down deep in the Moree half, and Bange reacted quickly to get to a loose ball and run 10 metres to score in the left corner to put her side in front 24-5.

That was the way it remained heading into the final break, and Narrabri stayed rock solid in defence in the fourth quarter to keep Moree to five points.

The visitors did manage to score one more try of their own as Hope received a pass from Smith close to the tryline and dazzled two defenders with a sharp step back inside before diving over in between the posts.

Smith then slotted a simple conversion to make the score 31-5, which was the way it remained when the siren sounded four minutes later.

The hosts did have one final crack after the siren had rung out, kicking the ball just short of the Narrabri line, but a desperate Blue Boars side showed exactly why they have won three straight minor and major premiership doubles as they battled to get to the loose ball first and kick it out to bring the contest to an end.

For Narrabri’s two biggest rivals across the past few seasons, it was also a red-hot start on Saturday. The 2025 grand finalists, Tamworth Pirates, scored a 52-20 home ground victory over the Inverell Highlanders, while the 2023 and 2024 grand finalists, Gunnedah Red Devils, put on 54 unanswered points in an away win over Quirindi Lions.

Narrabri will travel to Quirindi in round two this Saturday to challenge the Lions, while Gunnedah host the Pirates and the Bulls travel to Inverell.

Both of the Narrabri Blue Boars’ men’s teams went down in Moree on Saturday as the reserve grade side lost 22-7 before the Bulls took out the first grade game 36-22.