Success at Country Champs as the Central North Kookaburras secure podium finishes

Central North produced one of its most successful NSW Country Rugby Union Championships showings in many years across the weekend and the Narrabri Blue Boars were in the thick of it as the zone’s senior men’s and women’s teams secured podium finishes in Tamworth.

The Kookaburras’ men’s side, which included Narrabri’s Will McDonnell, Charlie Radford, Josh Schwager, Will Ciesiolka, Sam Spanton and Joe Baker, won both of their Caldwell Cup pool matches on Saturday to lock in their first appearance in the grand final in 14 years on Sunday.

They then fell agonisingly short of winning their first title since 2001 as they lost 37-35 against the defending champions Central Coast.

The Kookaburras’ women’s team included Blue Boars trio Toni Rae (formerly Gale), Cassidy Morley and April Smith, and also Narrabri’s Holly Ford, who plays her rugby for Gunnedah Red Devils. They won one of their two pool matches on Saturday to secure a spot in Sunday’s third-place playoff clash, which they won 26-12 over Far North Coast to secure a third-place finish.

Narrabri Rugby Club’s president Daniel Kahl was one of the men’s team selectors and was also a team manager across the weekend. He told The Courier that the club was proud of all of its Kookaburra representatives and said they all did themselves and the club proud in the red and white uniform.

“We’re absolutely proud of our guys. To have six men and three women selected, and then a few of us involved off the field as well, was great.

“We had 12 all up and it was really pleasing to see.

“It was great to see our players get the opportunities and make the most of them. All of our players had huge weekends. They all played out of their skins, and hopefully we’ll see a few of them receive calls from NSW Country coaches soon to say they want to see more of them.

“The NSW Country squad training weekend will be in July, and usually the squad for that is named within two weeks of Country Champs.”

Kahl described this year’s men’s team as the strongest that has been assembled in many years and he also declared that fighting for the title in the Caldwell Cup grand final was where the zone deserved to be.

“Every year, we end up getting a couple more players come on board. The program is improving every year,” Kahl said.

“There’s a core group there that have played three or four Country Champs now.

“This year was the strongest squad we’ve picked for a long time, and part of that was having someone coaching, with that being Jack Travers, who was dedicated to that role. He made himself really busy in the first three rounds of the comp getting to see as many games as he could. He came to clubs’ training sessions and he had one-on-one chats with players, and that really helped ensure we had the best 25 players available to us.

“Being involved in the grand final is absolutely where we deserve to be. I think the depth in our squad was the best of any of the teams there. We were making eight changes at half-time in each game and the standard of play wasn’t dropping at all; actually if anything, it was going up a notch.

“How we went didn’t surprise us at all. It’s what we know this zone is capable of. It’s really awesome now that other people are starting to see Central North is as good as the rest of them.”

The Kookaburra men kicked off their weekend with a 27-13 pool match win against Far North Coast at Scully Park to put themselves in prime position for a shot at reaching the grand final.

Narrabri flanker Josh Schwager scored Central North’s first try of the weekend and it was an impressive effort as he charged onto a pass in the centre of the field close to the line moments after he had been involved in a scrum on the left edge.

His try between the sticks gave Adrian Burl the easiest of kicks to make the score 7-3 after Far North Coast had scored a penalty goal in the opening minute.

Central North then went behind 13-7 after conceding a ninth-minute penalty goal and an 18th-minute try, but tries to Schwager’s Blue Boars teammates Sam Spanton and Joe Baker and a pair of Burl conversions and penalty goals saw the hosts storm home to a 14-point victory.

Spanton’s try was after the siren on the stroke of half-time when he grabbed the ball out of the ruck and dived over from close range after the Kookaburras had camped themselves on the Far North Coast tryline, with Burl’s conversion putting them ahead 14-13 at the break.

The two penalty goals saw them establish a 20-13 lead after 10 minutes of play in the second stanza, and Baker then iced the game with five minutes remaining in the 50-minute match as he scored between the sticks off the back an explosive run after an attacking scrum deep in Far North Coast territory.

The Kookaburras backed up for the second game of the day under lights at Scully Park and found themselves behind 12-0 at the half-time break against Illawarra, and they finally got themselves on the scoreboard eight minutes into the second stanza when Moree’s Duncan Woods took a quick tap close to the tryline and caught the defence napping as he charged over to score.

The hosts were still behind 12-5 late in the game but managed to equalise when Schwager scored his second try of the day as he picked up the ball out of a ruck on the line and grounded it between the posts to give Burl a kick from centre-field, which he nailed to level the game up at 12-all.

The Kookaburras needed to win the game to top pool B after Illawarra had prevailed against Far North Coast earlier in the day, and a late turnover gave the home side a chance to get the job done with seconds left to play. They battled their way to the tryline and Schwager struck once again with another try out of the ruck as the siren sounded to get them through to the big dance.
Burl added the extras as it finished 19-12 to Central North.

The Kookaburras were unable to score any first-half points again in Sunday’s decider at Scully Park as pool A winners Central Coast went into the half-time break with a 19-0 lead.

The final was an 80-minute game, so Central North had 30 more minutes to manufacture a comeback than they would have in a 50-minute pool game, and they managed to pile on five converted tries in the second stanza to go ahead for the first time in the 76th minute.

However, the defending champions were able to get themselves back in front after winning a scrum penalty with 90 seconds left and kicking a goal that made the final score 37-35.

“We just never quite got ourselves in a position to get in front and into a place where we could dictate terms,” Kahl said of that final.

“It was a proper heavyweight punch-for-punch sort of game. It was pretty incredible to watch and great to be a part of on the sideline.

“It was just disappointing to give away a scrum penalty to lose it in the last minute.”

The Central North women’s team lost 20-7 against eventual Thompson Cup champs Central West at Scully Park on Saturday morning before they bounced back to defeat Central Coast 14-7 to qualify for Sunday’s third-place playoff at Chillingworth Oval.

They took on Far North Coast in that match and found themselves behind 5-0 early before Rae crossed for their first try of the contest in the seventh minute and Morley nailed the kick at goal to put her side ahead 7-5.

Morley then scored the second try herself as the fullback made a classy sweeping run down the left edge and charged onto a pass before diving over into the corner to make the score 12-5.

Far North Coast equalised late in the half to make the score 12-all at the break, and it remained that way until there were four minutes left in the 40- minute match.

Rae and Morley combined to put winger Caitlyn Etheridge over in the right corner and Morley nailed the conversion from the sideline to put the Kookaburras ahead 19-12, and they struck again with seconds remaining after Holly Ford made a brilliant run to get her side in striking range before providing the try assist a few plays later.

Morley slotted her third conversion to make the final score 26-12.