Positive signs for junior Blue Boars following wet and wild trial victory

Narrabri Blue Boars’ under-18s side sent an early message to rest of the competition when they took down Gunnedah Red Devils in wet and heavy conditions on Friday night.

The Narrabri boys travelled for their first trial of the season and returned home as 19-17 winners following a tough contest.

Both sides scored three tries each, but the Blue Boars slotted two of their three conversions and the hosts only kicked one. Angelo Afoa, Chris Johnson and Paul Doherty crossed for a try each for the Blue Boars and Nick Coffey kicked both of the side’s conversions.

The visitors led for the majority of the 60-minute contest after scoring the first try of the game and being able to hold out a fast-finishing Gunnedah outfit that scored the final try of the contest but fell two points short.

For Blue Boars coach Mick Coffey, the hitout was a positive one for his side, which included some new faces and only had two players on standby on the bench as a few more were unavailable.

“We went over there on Friday with no real expectations because we had a couple of guys in the team who are brand new to rugby, with not even a league background,” Coffey said.

“It was very wet too.

“The outcomes we were looking for were we wanted to be really happy with our ball retention and our ball security, and we wanted to be happy with our communication.

“We have a couple of players in new positions in what are key spots. Paul Doherty was playing five-eight for the first time and Jake Foster was playing second row for the first time.

“Regardless of the score, we wanted to see everybody’s confidence when they came off the field being really high.

“The step-up from 16s to 18s is quite big, especially with physicality and speed, and there are only two players in the 18-year-old bracket for us, with the rest in the 17-year-old bracket.

“We weren’t completely focused on a win, being a trial. We just wanted to meet those outcomes and we actually did better than we thought we might.

“Our scrum in particular was over and above what I was expecting it to be, which was good.”

A major change for the under-18s teams in Central North this season sees them set to line up on Saturdays prior to the CNRU senior grades.

It is expected to be the strongest 18s competition in the zone in more than a decade, with seven teams to feature including Narrabri, Moree, Inverell, Gunnedah, Tamworth Pirates, Scone and Armidale. Armidale will play in the Barraba slot on the CNRU draw.

Narrabri’s games against Scone are expected to be held on Friday nights, in Gunnedah for the Blue Boars’ home game and in Quirindi for the Scone home game, but all of the other games will be on Saturdays for Mick Coffey’s side.

Teams will play 12 matches each throughout the regular season, which will see them line up against the other six teams twice each.

A top four will then contest a finals series that follows the same format as the senior grades.

Narrabri Rugby Club’s president Daniel Kahl labelled the move back to Saturdays as a positive one for the 18s competition and said he believed it would boost the gameday experience at Dangar Park when Narrabri play at home in 2025.

“We’re really looking forward to having the 18s back on Saturdays,” Kahl said.

“There’s a handful of us left in the club that came through the system where we had 16s and 18s playing on Saturdays with the seniors.

“It’s a really important leap between age-based football and grade, and it’s important to have a connection.

“Having the 18s back on Saturdays will help bring that back.

“We’ve had them training with us all pre-season, which is really great, and there were three 18s who played in our reserve grade trial.

“A handful will get to see some time in reserve grade and potentially first grade, and there’s another group of them that will be capable of handling third grade too.

“This move will help transition the 18s into grade and we’re really excited to have them back around the senior group.”

Coffey commended the Friday night rugby format that has been in place for the teenage junior players for many years now, which he said has saved junior rugby in the zone, but welcomed the move to Saturdays for the under-18s, which he said would have a positive impact.