Second half of the season kicks off

The Group 4 Rugby League clubs have officially entered the back end of the 2023 campaign as the second half of the season got underway with round eight fixtures last weekend.

The in form Moree Boars remained undefeated in first grade after scoring their eighth win in as many matches when they beat the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters 30-22 on Saturday.

The visiting side trailed 22-12 at one stage in the second half at Kootingal Sports Ground, however, they were able to overpower the hosts to score 18 unanswered points and charge home to remain unbeaten.

Moree fullback Adrian Smith starred again for his side as he scored a try to kick-start that resurgence and then set up another. He was awarded the three Group 4 best and fairest points as he finished the week on 17 points, seven clear of Werris Creek’s Riley Leonard, who has polled 10 points in the first eight rounds.

Smith is also second on the leading try-scorers tally with 14 tries, second to only teammate William Baker who has crossed 16 times already this year.

The sensational fullback is on top of the Group 4 Rugby League first grade competition point-scorers tally with 150 points, 61 more than Trent Taylor from the Dungowan Cowboys who has 89 points to his name so far.

A win behind Moree in second place on the ladder are the Werris Creek Magpies following their 42-12 victory at home against Gunnedah Bulldogs on Saturday.

The win was the home side’s seventh of the season, with its only loss of the year coming back in round four away from home against Moree.

Two wins back from the Magpies are the Dungowan Cowboys, which beat the Narrabri Blues 66-12 on Sunday in Dungowan.

The home side led 38-6 at half-time in that match and outscored the Blues 28-6 in 22 minutes in the second-half before the two teams agreed to end the game with 18 minutes to spare.

“We were down to 12 men on the field and just one player on the bench,” injured Blues captain-coach Josh Trindall told Group 4 Media.

“The boys didn’t want me to pull the game up.

“They wanted to keep playing.”

It was an all-too-familiar story for the Blues on Sunday as they were well and truly in the game for the first 20 minutes.

They trailed 12-6 halfway through the opening half after hooker Aiden Butcher had scored the visitors’ first try, but the hosts ran away with the game as they piled on 24 more points before the break.

Butcher scored Narrabri’s second try in the second stanza, and Kaleb Mowle slotted both conversions.

Their teammate Kalab McMillan polled one Group 4 best and fairest point just one week after picking up three in a losing side on home soil against Werris Creek.

The other Group 4 first grade game in round eight was a close contest that was separated by just one converted try as Boggabri Kangaroos went down 32-26 away from home against North Tamworth Bears.

The Kangaroos had started their season on a high with their first win against the Bears back in round one, however, they only won two of their next six games and were determined to bounce back with a clean sweep of the North Tamworth men.

The hosts got the job done though as they outscored Boggabri 22-14 in the second stanza to overturn a 12-10 half-time deficit.

Liam Doyle crossed twice for the visitors and Dylan Lake, Rob Doolan and skipper Matt Gillham scored a try each. Ashley White kicked three goals.

Gillham was also awarded two Group 4 best and fairest points.

“A 14-5 penalty count against us and two in the bin at the same time didn’t help,” the Boggabri Kangaroos’ coach Shane Rampling told Group 4 Media.

“We also had a try disallowed, held up at a crucial time.

“The effort was there but you’re never going to win when you get two sin-binnings at the same time and you’re down to 11 men.

“I’m not saying we were perfect. We dropped some ball and gave away some silly penalties.

“We led 12-10 at half-time but just couldn’t put them away. Then to have Nick (Millar) and Andrew (Wallace) sin-binned made it hard, but the boys defended well, scrambled.

“Down to 11 men, we still came back at them. We just ran out of time.”

North Tamworth’s six-point victory saw it join fourth-placed Kootingal-Moonbi on eight competition points.

The Kangaroos remained sixth on six points, while Gunnedah is still seventh on two points and Narrabri is last with no points.

The 2023 campaign will resume on Saturday and Sunday, June 17 and 18, following the June long weekend bye.

Two games will be contested on the Saturday as the Kangaroos host Werris Creek at Jubilee Oval, and the Bears welcome Kootingal-Moonbi to Jack Woolaston Oval.

Two more games will be played on the Sunday when Narrabri travels to Boughton Oval to challenge Moree, and the Bulldogs host the Cowboys at Kitchener Park.