Blue Boars’ reggies downed following red-hot start in round one

Narrabri Rugby Club’s reserve grade coach Mick Coffey thought his men proved they can be a real force in the 2026 Central North Rugby Union campaign after going down 22-7 in the opening round against the Moree Bulls on Saturday.

The Blue Boars travelled to Weebolla Oval to kick off their season, and they came out of the blocks flying as they put the home side under immediate pressure and capitalised with a try in the sixth minute.

Lachie Wright scored that try for the visitors as he charged over from close range after they had camped themselves on the Moree line, and Nick Coffey added the extras to make the score 7-0 against the defending champions.

However, Moree hit back with their first try of the game three minutes later through winger Charlie Grant to make the score 7-5, and the hosts then went ahead on the 20-minute mark when hooker Jack Fernance crossed to make it 10-7.

The Bulls entered the half-time break with a 17-7 advantage after Ryan Hunt had converted a 29th-minute Tom Johnston try, and there was only one try scored in the second stanza as both sides stood strong in defence.

It was Bradley Fernance who scored for Moree as his try with 10 minutes remaining made the final score 22-7 to give the Bulls a bonus point victory.

For Coffey, there were plenty of positives out of his side’s performance, none more so than their start. The Blue Boars’ reserve grade side has had a distinct focus on game day preparation in 2026 as a way to address an identifiable trend of slow starts to games in recent seasons.

“So many times in the past few years the reggies find themselves a quarter of the way through a match and the opposition would already have 10 to 20 points on the board, which meant playing catch-up footy once the team switched on and kicked into gear,” Coffey said.

“This year, everything before the game has been overhauled – how we prepare in the sheds, our warm-up activities, how we run out; it’s all planned to ensure that we are going full noise from the first whistle.”

Saturday saw exactly that happen, with many watching saying they had not seen a Blue Boars start like that for a long time.

“A brilliant first 15 from us. Everyone aimed up, our intensity and communication were great,” Coffey said.

While Moree, who have played in every reserve grade grand final in the past decade, winning four of them and COVID-19 preventing two of the others, managed to win the game, Coffey was still pleased with and proud of his team.

“We copped a few injuries there today. You know it’s been a tough game when your number 8 finishes the match at outside centre, but we’ll take that,” he said.

“Our defence was good. We just turned the ball over too often, but we’ll sort that out.

“A bit of game management stuff, like if we’d have taken a penalty shot, it could’ve been 17-10, which would’ve maybe pressured Moree into going a bit more conservative, but we’ll live and learn.

“Everything that we need to work on are things within our control, so it’s entirely fixable.”

The game was a physical contest that went end to end, with defence from both sides a highlight.

Coffey thought that the Blue Boars’ scrum was strong, and did not decrease in effectiveness as substitutions were made, which provided the backline great opportunities to play from.

He said Alistair Enzerink, Tom Garnsey and Tom Cameron were all strong in the forwards, while in the backline Jacob Booby made a strong return after missing the 2025 campaign, Matt McElroy and Nathan Nott both brought plenty of energy, and captain Nick Anderson turned in another impressive performance at flanker.

“Moree at Moree – it doesn’t get any bigger in our zone, especially for round one,” Coffey said.

“We had Drew Chappel speak to the team and present their jerseys to them, which made it even more special. Drew was part of those phenomenal teams of the early 2000s which broke our premiership drought up at Moree, and he played in some classics at Moree. He spoke with plenty of pride and passion, which the team appreciated. It really fired them up.

“We now know after playing them where we measure up. There’s plenty of improvement in us.”

The Blue Boars have now turned their attention to this Saturday’s round two road trip to Quirindi to take on a Lions side that beat Gunnedah 36-5 on home soil in their season opener on Saturday.

The other round one reserve grade game saw Tamworth Pirates edge out Inverell Highlanders 24-22.