The Narrabri Blues are continuing to improve and once again on Saturday showed that their young side is not too far from the rest of the pack in the 2023 Group 4 Rugby League first grade competition.
Narrabri hosted North Tamworth Bears at Collins Park in round 10 of the campaign and it well and truly made the defending champions work for the two points as the score ended up 36-20.
Damon Gleeson, Dylan Segundo, Jess O’Neill and Jeff Harvey all went over for a try each for the home side and their captain-coach Josh Trindall and fellow teammate Trey Doolan both slotted one conversion each.
For the North Tamworth Bears side, Lynken Dickson bagged a double and Misaele Vackacegu, Dalton Desmond-Walker, Scott Blanch and Cody Edstein-Boyes scored tries, while Mitch Sheridan added 12 points off the boot with six goals.
The Bears went up 6-0 early in the contest but the Blues hit back with a converted try to level the score.
The visitors scored two more tries in that first half and went into the break leading 18-6, but again the Blues hit back as they scored first in the second stanza to make the score 18-12 and went over again to make it a two-point ball game with the score at 18-16 with 22 minutes remaining.
The Bears got a roll on as they went in for three more tries in the next 10 minutes to make the score 36-16, but Narrabri’s never-say-die attitude was on show as the hosts scored last to make the final score 36-20.
Earlier in the day, Narrabri’s reserve grade side went down 38-14 after the ladies’ league tag side had lost 54-0.
In the reserve grade match, Josh Briggs, Michael Knox and Nathan Harvey all scored a try each and Luke Shields kicked on goal.
Despite the results on the day, it was an enjoyable afternoon at Collins Park as the rugby league community celebrated the contribution and effort of the women, both past and present, who have all contributed to make Narrabri Rugby League Football Club the brilliant local sporting club that it is today.
“We had a nice day,” Narrabri Blues secretary Amanda Smith told Group 4 Media after the first grade match.
“All our players came with a smile and left with a smile.”
Several Narrabri Blues players have caught the eye of opposition players and coaches throughout the 2023 campaign, but none more so than young forwards Jeff Harvey and Kalab Mcmillan.
They both earned Group 4 best and fairest points in round 10 as Mcmillan polled two and Harvey was awarded one.
They also received the praise of the opposition coach as North Tamworth Bears coach Paul Boyce told Group 4 Media after the match he thought the duo performed quite well.
“They were outstanding,” Boyce said of the Blues duo.
“We knew we had to watch them and did well to contain them as well as we did.”
The Narrabri Blues are still winless and last on the Group 4 Rugby League first grade ladder, but coach Trindall and his men are determined to make every game incredibly difficult for the teams above them between now and the end of the season.
The Blues are also determined to get at least one win as well.
It will be another difficult task in round 11 when the Blues travel over to Kootingal for the only Sunday game of the weekend, where they will take on the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters at Kootingal Sports Ground.
The Blues will be in action in all four grades on the day and the club said a bus would be available for players and spectators at no cost.
