Blues score fifth consecutive Collins Park victory to remain undefeated at home in 2021

Death, taxes and Narrabri Blues winning at home in 2021 – Jake Rumsby’s men got the job done again in front of another booming home crowd on Saturday as they scored their fifth straight Collins Park victory to remain undefeated on home soil this year.

Narrabri Rugby League Football Club returned to winning ways in the ninth round of the 2021 Group 4 Rugby League first grade season with a thumping 40-14 victory against Werris Creek.

The Blues outscored the Magpies eight tries to three and four conversions to one to bounce back from a heartbreaking golden point loss against the Moree Boars just six days earlier in round eight.

And while it wasn’t the most points the side has scored in a single game this year, the 26-point winning margin was their largest of the campaign.

The Narrabri men entered the weekend in second spot on the ladder just one point behind first-placed Kootingal and two ahead of third-placed North Tamworth.

Those two sides met at Jack Woolaston Oval on Saturday where the Roosters downed the Bears 19-18 in golden point extra time.

The Blues now remain just one point back from the ladder leaders while they extended their lead over North Tamworth and the fourth-placed Moree Boars by three points.

The Boars hosted Boggabri Kangaroos at Boughton Oval on Sunday where they scored a 48-20 home ground victory.

That win saw Moree join North Tamworth on 12 points but the Bears managed to hold onto third spot.

The other round nine game was won by Dungowan which scored its first victory of the campaign when it downed Gunnedah 34-26 on Sunday. Gunnedah’s loss was its fifth in a row and left the Bulldogs languishing six points adrift of the top four.

At Collins Park on Saturday, the Blues were “patchy” according to captain-coach Rumsby.

“It was a good win, we were good in patches,” Jake Rumsby told Group 4 Media.

“We led by 30 but then started to push passes. That was disappointing.

“I was also guilty of it too. Once we control that (mistakes) we’ll be a dominant side.”

While Rumsby was pleased to have earned two more points he was also disappointed to have lost another player to the casualty ward. Halfback Toby Bentley suffered a knee injury which forced him from the field.

“We’ve had a shocking run with injury, that’s the biggest disappointment of the season so far,” Rumsby told Group 4 Media.

Meanwhile, the Blues were boosted by the return of Daniel Jobson (pictured above) on Saturday who missed the side’s round eight golden point loss through suspension. The gun front-rower scored two tries in the big win, while the side’s other six tries were shared between Mark Patterson, Chris Hunt, Daniel Howe, Sam Sadler, Jayden Hayne and Jed Smith.

Patterson’s four-pointer continued an impressive start to his Blues tenure after he made an abundance of metres (especially coming off his own line), defused several Moree bombs and scored a try on debut in the loss against the Boars in round eight.

Rumsby has been impressed with Patterson’s performances in the Blues’ past two matches and is also pleased to have the experienced Hunt onboard for the remainder of the season who he said fitted in well in his first game for the side.

“[Hunt is] going to be very handy for us,” Rumsby told Group 4 Media.

“I played in the Group side with him and know what he’s like. He wants to play first grade and will fit in here.

“We’ve had a horrendous year with injury and he will also help us out in the middle.

“He’s a winner, played in premierships winning sides. Great to have him here.”

Another key player for the Blues in season 2021 is Todd Nichols. Nichols played at hooker for the second game in a row on Saturday in the absence of the side’s usual number nine, his brother Jacob, and added eight extra points off the boot while also polling the three Group 4 Rugby League best and fairest points.

His teammate Sadler polled for the second week in a row when he picked up the one point.

The competition will break this weekend for a general bye for the National Primary Games.

The Blues’ next match will be played at Jubilee Oval when they take on the Boggabri Kangaroos in round 10 on Saturday, July 17 before they return home to challenge Kootingal in a top-of-the-table clash at Collins Park in round 11 on Sunday, July 25.

Meanwhile, Narrabri’s reserve grade and under-18s teams were both victorious at Collins Park on Saturday.

The Lachlann Thorn-coached reserve grade team scored its second win of the season when it downed the Magpies 62-16.

Rodney Lamb, Kaleb Mowle and Rylee Sadler each bagged doubles for the Blues while teammates Kurt Wallace, Kynen Harvey, Trent Keeler, Scott Stockwell and Michael Knox all scored a try each.

Mowle added 12 extra points off the boot via six conversions while Lamb kicked three.

Narrabri’s under-18s team won its second game of the season as it outscored Werris Creek 58-6.

Thomas Bryce scored a hat-trick, Gus Smith bagged a double and Malik Dennis, Brodie Willock, Chris Clarke, Clifford Toomey Junior, Jeff Harvey and Tim Shields all scored tries. Zack Doring kicked five goals and Johnno Evans added another.

Narrabri’s ladies’ league tag team went down 24-4 in the first game of the day.