Junior Blue Boars trio selected in NSW Country under-16s squad

Narrabri continues to punch above its weight in the junior rugby union arena, producing talented young players year after year who continue to do the town proud.

The latest trio of Narrabri Junior Rugby Club players who have earned higher representative honours are under-16s trio Gabe O’Connor, Frazer Penberthy and Chayce Browning.

The three 16-year-olds impressed while playing for Central North at the 2025 Under-16 NSW Junior Country Championships in Parramatta earlier this month, at which the zone placed third following seven matches that were contested across a freezing cold weekend. They won five of those games, drew one and lost the other.

Gabe has played for the junior Blue Boars for the past six years and has been a mainstay of the Central North team in his age group for four years now. The talented five-eighth made his Country debut in 2024.

Frazer, a gun fullback, has been a junior Blue Boar for three years and Chayce, a tough loosehead prop, has been a junior Blue Boar for two years, and the NSW Country squad selection was a first for them both.

The boys will travel to Lake Keepit this weekend for a camp with the other members of the squad. There are two teams that make up that squad, which will line up in Camden next month. They will play against each other as well as two Sydney sides.

The three Narrabri boys will play in the NSW Country Gold team, which will be coached by Gunnedah Red Devils’ James Perrett.

From there, the NSW Country squad will be cut down to one team that will play at a national championship later in the year.

Other junior Blue Boars who lined up or were selected for Central North sides this year included Blair Lennox (under-13s) in Orange, Max Booby (under-14s) in Dubbo, Lachlan Coffey, Dylan Neesom, Nate Dewson, Elias Watene and Lincoln Saunders (under-15s) in Maitland, Lucas Duff (under-16s) in Parramatta, Ruby Clayton (under-16s) in Granville, Kyal Seymour, Angelo Afoa and Nick Coffey (under-18s) in Concord and Matilda Currey (under-18s) in Concord.