Narrabri Blue Boars ready for Saturday’s Bulls battle

Narrabri Rugby Club’s first grade side could lead the ladder come Saturday night while it could have also dropped out of the top four – that is how close things are in the top half of the 2021 Central North Rugby Union first grade ladder following a month and a half of action.

Narrabri’s round six win at Inverell on Saturday saw it retain second place on the ladder while moving within a point of first-placed Gunnedah after the Red Devils went down 50-7 against third-placed Walcha Rams.

The Blue Boars will travel up the Newell Highway on Saturday for their round seven clash against old rivals Moree Bulls.

The Moree men are currently ranked fourth following three wins and two losses to start the campaign. The Bulls scored their most recent victory at Scone in round six on Saturday when they downed the Brumbies 48-22.

The Blue Boars’ win against the Inverell Highlanders was earned in a much tighter contest as the visitors outscored the hosts 37-36.

“It definitely wasn’t our best performance,” Narrabri Rugby Club first grade coach Hunter Harley said of the round six win.

“Inverell will win a few games at home this year, they are certainly no pushover.

“It was one of those games we were happy to get the five points and get out of there.

“But good teams find a way to win ugly and that’s what we did.

“I was happy with the last 10 minutes, how we didn’t panic and how we grinded our way to a win, I don’t think they would have been able to do that a couple of years ago.

“I think inexperience would have got to the young fellas and they would’ve panicked but they’ve learnt to fight and grind out those wins.

“That’s a big positive to come out of Saturday.”

Looking forward to his side’s round seven clash against Moree, Harley said the Blue Boars had to improve in several areas which included goal-kicking after they only converted out of their seven tries against Inverell.

“There’s an old adage that ‘practise makes perfect’ and I don’t think I’ve seen one of our kickers down there kicking goals either before or after training,” Harley said.

“They certainly can strike a ball, they just don’t practise.

“We also need to dominate the breakdown better, we’ve been doing alright but not dominating.

“I think the team that dominates the breakdown this year in Central North will win the comp.

“Everyone has the ability to score points in their teams but it’s all about possession.

“Our lineout probably also needs to improve too and I’d like us to cut out the missed tackles.”

Narrabri welcomes back Matt and Will McDonnell for Saturday’s game while Mitch Wheaton, who missed the first four games before coming off the bench and scoring the winning try on Saturday, also comes back into consideration.

Harley said that he was pleased that the Blue Boars were close to being back to full strength and added that selecting a team for this Saturday’s match would be harder than it has been all season.