Boggabri Kangaroos rise to the occasion to earn a first grade home semi-final

By Geoff Newling (Group 4) and Blake Jarrett (The Courier)

Boggabri Kangaroos earned a berth in the Group 4 Rugby league first grade semi-finals for the first time since 1964 when they thumped Dungowan Cowboys 56-16 in round 18 at Jubilee Oval on Saturday.

The Roos won successive premierships in 1963 and 1964 before playing an extended term in the former Group 4 second division.

The club returned to first division football in 2018, and while it has been a tough time for the small town, the club and its first grade team have continued to improve and thrive.

Under coach Shane Rampling and a number of ‘Fijian flyers’, the Roos have kicked on well this season. They clinched third place after Saturday’s win saw them join Kootingal-Moonbi on 25 points before the Roosters went down 48-22 at Kitchener Park against the Gunnedah Bulldogs on Sunday to remain in fourth spot.

Rampling described the win over Dungowan as “good”.

“The first half was pretty tight but we did some stupid things and tried to force some passes,” he said.

“We got back into doing what we do best (in the second half).

“Held the ball and made some good inroads. The boys had a job to do and did it.”

Robert Doolan opened the scoring in the first minute of Saturday’s game and finished up with a hat-trick.

The hosts scored 10 tries in total as Iliasa Kalokalodrau and Josefa Goneduadua bagged doubles and Pita Rogasau, Nick Millar and Josefa Biu all scored a try each. Ash White missed the first and last conversion attempts but kicked all eight in between.

Doolan’s first try was scored during the first set as some expansive footy on the fifth play put Goneduadua away down the left edge. The winger was brought down just before the tryline, but the Kangaroos swung the ball through the hands all the way to the other sideline and Doolan crossed in the corner.

That was the only try scored during the opening 20 minutes as the hosts did not extend their lead until the 22nd when Kalokalodrau crossed and White kicked the conversion to make the score 10-0.

Dungowan hit back with their first try of the game in the 26th minute when their fullback Dylan Lake broke the line from 20 metres out against his former side and went over untouched between the sticks. Trent Taylor kicked an easy goal from in front to make the score 10-6, but Boggabri took a 16-6 lead into the half-time break after White converted a 36th-minute Doolan try.

The Kangaroos came out firing in the second stanza and had run in four more tries by the hour-mark, all of which White converted to make the score 40-6.

The two sides then went try for try as the scoreboard read 52-16 with less than one minute remaining before Doolan sealed the victory with a runaway four-pointer to claim a hat-trick and make the final score 56-16.

Boggabri centre Rogasau was the side’s players’ player for the second week in a row and earned praise off his coach.

“He was electric,” Rampling told Group 4 Media.

“Good speed and made many post-contact metres. He was also our players’ player. That’s two weeks in a row. He was outstanding.

“Jake Byrne also went well. He played front row for. Would be lucky to be 100kg but never took a backward step. Ran hard, tackled hard.

“Ash White was great at fullback too.

“Everyone played well though. We didn’t get any injuries either.”

The Kangaroos had a handful of players missing on Saturday and their coach said he would have a selection headache ahead of Sunday’s minor semi-final against the Roosters.

Meanwhile, Dungowan won the reserve grade game 68-6 and the ladies league tag match 46-0.

The Kangaroos’ third-place finish sees them host this Sunday’s minor semi-finals. They will take on Kootigal-Moonbi in the main event following elimination games between Werris Creek and Dungowan (league tag), Kootingal-Moonbi and North Tamworth (under-18s), and Werris Creek and Gunnedah (reserve grade).