Blue Boars win a first grade thriller at Dangar Park to claim their 14th premiership

They are calling it one of the greatest Central North grand finals ever, and rightly so. The Narrabri Blue Boars are first grade premiers again, and they did it in the most remarkable of fashions as they prevailed 31-27.

The Narrabri men were behind by one point against the Moree Bulls when the bell rang at Dangar Park on Saturday afternoon, and a loud and proud home crowd watched on in nervous anticipation as their halfback Charlie Radford fed a scrum 10 out from the Moree line to kick-start the final play of the game.

He collected the ball and came charging away like a Bull out of a gate, engaging the defensive line before squaring up and passing right to his fullback Jydon Hill, who then threw it on to winger Damon Gleeson. Gleeson powered his way through the attempted tackle of Moree’s Tim Houston and dived into the corner, forcefully planting the ball down before a retreating Moree defender was able to take him into touch.

The crowd erupted as they realised what their side had just achieved and so did the Blue Boars players as they soaked in the premiership-winning feeling in front of family and friends.

Earlier in the afternoon, the Blue Boars passed their first test of the day after being forced to defend on their line inside 90 seconds. Moree winger Asesela Ravuvu made an early linebreak down the left edge to get his side in an attacking area, but Narrabri forced a knock-on as the visitors searched for the first points of the game.

Almost the entire first 10 minutes were played in Blue Boars territory and the pressure finally mounted as Moree’s captain Duncan Woods took a quick tap from a few metres out and forced his way over for the first try of the contest. Ben Williams added the extras to make the score 7-0 after 11 minutes.

A relieving penalty in the 13th minute gave Narrabri a chance to kick upfield and finally have use of the ball in their attacking 22, which they were able to take advantage of. A Moree mistake in the ruck near the tryline saw the Blue Boars feed a scrum 10 metres out, and the home side’s forward pack pushed Moree’s back before number eight Linton Grumley scooped up the ball and charged over to score. Todd Nichols then nailed the kick at goal to level the score up at 7-all after 15 minutes.

The Bulls looked certain to score in the 19th minute when an overlap on the right edge released Alex Roseby down the right sideline, but a super cover tackle made by the Blue Boars’ skipper Will McDonnell took him into touch and kept Narrabri level.

The Bulls eventually did go ahead in the 27th minute when fullback Mitchell Adams broke the line in his own half and passed to Ravuvu who did the rest, and they went further in front in the 33rd minute when Woods made another strong run to score his second. Williams slotted both of those conversions and his team took a 21-7 advantage into the half-time break.

Moree enjoyed the better of the field possession in the opening half and there was a sense that Narrabri would need to be the first to score in the second stanza to stay in the match. They managed to achieve that after they camped themselves on Moree’s line and Josh Schwager charged onto a Jydon Hill pass and powered his way through the Moree defence. Nichols added the extras again to make the score 21-14, but Moree had gone ahead 27-14 by the 51st minute after Williams had kicked two penalty goals.

It remained that way on the hour-mark, but the Blue Boars had been attacking relentlessly for several minutes and managed to go over in the 61st when Joe Baker dived into the left corner and made it a two-possession game at 27-19. Nichols missed a tricky kick from the sideline, but he made no mistake in the 70th minute from right in front as he converted a Jake Rumsby try. A Baker line break had put the Blue Boars in striking distance and created some momentum in the process, and the powerful second-rower capitalised after he ran onto a McDonnell cutout pass 10 out and stormed between two defenders to go over and score.

The successful conversion saw the hosts claw themselves back within a point as Moree now led 27-26.

One of the talking points of the game was Moree’s decision to kick for touch after winning a penalty in goal-kicking distance with three minutes to go, which would prove costly in the end as they coughed up possession in the lineout and put Narrabri back on the attack.

The Blue Boars won a penalty of their own just inside their attacking half with a minute to go and they also opted to kick for touch, and they were attacking again following a successful lineout. An unsuccessful Moree attempted intercept with seconds remaining saw Narrabri win a scrum close to the line, which they fed after the bell before Gleeson made history with the match-winning try in the corner as Narrabri claimed a 31-27 victory to win their 14th first grade premiership in their successful 60th-anniversary season.