Narrabri Blue Boars mark return to Dangar Park with a muddy win against Walcha

It wasn’t their normal game plans and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but the Narrabri Blue Boars and Walcha Rams put on an entertaining spectacle in the mud at Dangar Park in round 13 of the 2021 Central North Rugby Union season on Saturday.

In their first match on home soil in six weeks, the Narrabri men picked and drove their way to a 17-10 victory and were forced to survive a late Walcha onslaught which occurred after the final siren had sounded.

Moments after Jacob Nichols had a conversion charged down, which if successful would have put the game out of reach, Walcha regained possession from the kick-off and sent wave after wave of attack at the Blue Boars’ line.

After what felt like an eternity, Narrabri’s desperate goal-line defence got the job done after the hosts won possession in the ruck.

The ball was thrown to Matt McDonnell who booted it into touch to secure a memorable seven-point win which kept the Narrabri first XV on top of the table.

That frantic finish succeeded 80 minutes of tough rugby during which both teams worked hard through the middle in what were muddy and slippery conditions.

Both sides’ backlines have the ability to bamboozle the opposition defence with a mixture of dazzling footwork, precision passing and explosive pace out wide, however, the match was a battle of the forwards and it was the Blue Boars’ pack which reigned supreme.

Hunter Harley and Todd Farrer’s game plan for the home side was to play direct going forward and be patient in attack, which the Narrabri men executed to perfection.

The hosts’ second and third tries truly exemplified that.

In the 59th minute, hooker Will Turner collected the ball out of a ruck close to the line and powered through several defenders to score 10 metres out from the left upright.

That try gave the Blue Boars a lead that they would never surrender as the score became 12-10 in the home side’s favour.

With four minutes left to play, second rower Mitch Wheaton went over from close range to score Narrabri’s third. After being camped on Walcha’s line for several minutes, a hole in the visitors’ defence finally opened up and Wheaton spotted it and darted over out of the back of a ruck to score.

On both occasions, the Blue Boars found themselves attacking just metres from the Walcha line for an extended period, but both times they resisted the urge to spread the ball through the hands out wide, instead simply resorting to what was working for them.

That was strong, tough ball-running in the centre of the park as the forwards put their bodies on the line time and time again to drive their side to victory.

It was not the fancy, flashy style of rugby that so often pays off for the Blue Boars and always manages to bring the Dangar Park crowd alive, but it was the style that earned the team one of its most gutsy wins in recent history.

Blue Boars skipper Sam Knight was a standout in his team’s win. He played all 80 minutes on Saturday and was extraordinary in defence, making an abundance of crucial tackles and standing strong after the bell to help keep Walcha at bay.

He told The Courier that he was proud of the way his side played in testing conditions and the way it refused to give up after the siren.

“It was really good that win, especially coming off that loss last week (against Pirates in round 12), it meant everything,” Knight said.

“We had to really work for it, Walcha’s a good team. We’re stoked to come away with that one.

“It was tough, they were seriously good at putting us under pressure and it came down to working hard and picking and driving.

“The game plan was to be direct but we had to find a way to work out what was working and just go with it and that was the pick and drive really.

“We were gaining metres by keeping it tight, it was sloppy out there and there was a lot of dropped ball.

“I’m stoked how everyone got together and worked hard, especially the piggies.

“At the end there [the Rams] were five metres out and if they scored a try and converted it there would have been a draw and at this point of the season we can’t afford draws or losses so we had to dig deep and we’re really stoked to do it after the bell.

“I’m really proud. We want to build on that and keep building on the next few performances.

“We’ve got a really tough game against Scone next who have knocked off two big teams at home now so we are looking to that now.”

Earlier in the game, Walcha opened the scoring with an eighth-minute penalty goal to go ahead 3-0.

The Blue Boars played the third quarter of the first half with 10 men after halfback Henri Knight was yellow-carded on the 20-minute mark for a late hit on a Walcha kicker.

But the visitors were unable to make the most of the one-man advantage. Narrabri fullback Jydon Hill set the tone for a huge 10 minutes of defence with a tackle which took a Walcha ball-runner into touch before his teammates followed his lead with several strong tackles which forced dropped ball in the centre of the park.

Narrabri was then rewarded for its effort without the ball with a try seconds before Knight returned to the field.

His halves partner Alex Pay kicked from just inside his attacking half towards the uprights and the ball fell just short of the tryline. The visitors then spilled it while attempting to scoop up the loose ball and Narrabri outside centre Will McDonnell flew in to force the ball onto the tryline for the first five-pointer of the match.

Pay then slotted a conversion from in front to make the score 7-3.

Walcha regained its three-point lead two minutes before the break when Dominic Bower converted an Edgar Bragg try to make the half-time score 10-7.

However, the Blue Boars won the second half battle to outscore the visitors 10-0 in the final 40 minutes as they earned their ninth victory in 11 attempts this season.

The Narrabri men held onto top spot after picking up four more points, moving to a competition-best 53 points which is currently 10 clear of fifth-placed Walcha.

The Blue Boars are now just one point clear of second-placed Gunnedah Red Devils which had the round 13 bye, but moved eight points clear of third and fourth-placed Tamworth Pirates and Inverell Highlanders which both lost their respective round 13 games away from home.

The Pirates were beaten 29-26 by Moree Bulls while the Highlanders went down 45-24 against the Scone Brumbies.

The other match was won by Quirindi Lions which scored the only away win of the round when they outscored Barraba Rams 40-5.

Meanwhile, the club’s second grade side scored its fifth consecutive win with a 31-5 victory against the Rams in round 13. More on that game to come.