Boggabri Kangaroos registered their first shutout victory of the 2025 Group 4 Rugby League first grade campaign on Saturday as they put on a show for a large home crowd on sponsors’ day at Jubilee Oval.
The Kangaroos welcomed Dungowan Cowboys to town and scored a 52-0 win to sweep a team they defeated 44-24 back in round two in May.
The hosts ran in nine tries and their in-form goal-kicker Ash White converted eight of them as the Boggi boys climbed from fourth place into third on the ladder.
White had the number six jersey on his back for the second week in a row and dominated once again in the five-eighth role as he was one of the home side’s best on ground in their big win.
They opened the scoring in the sixth minute through Ilaisa Kalokalodrau and White made it 6-0, which was the way it remained until the half-hour mark after the Cowboys put up a tough fight for the majority of the first half.
It became 12-0 when White converted Lepani Banuve’s 30th-minute try before the Kangaroos went into half-time with a 16-0 advantage after a
Kalokalodrau offload close to the line in the 35th minute put the competition’s leading try-scorer Josefa Goneduadua over for his 15th four-pointer of the season.
Boggabri kicked off to restart play in the second stanza and the Cowboys managed to complete their first set and produce a kick that Boggabri’s Esava Nadalo caught on his own 10-metre line. Two powerful runs from the winger and his fullback saw the Kangaroos play the ball just short of the halfway line for the third play, and Avenai Tuidreko then stormed straight through Dungowan’s defence and charged away to score a brilliant 50-metre runaway try.
White’s conversion made the score 22-0 just one minute into the second half, and it remained that way until the hour-mark when a resilient Dungowan defence finally cracked again and the floodgates opened.
The hosts ran in five more tries during the final 20 minutes and White converted all of them as Boggabri ran away with a 52-0 victory.
Goneduadua claimed two of those tries to end the match with a hat-trick and go six clear at the top of the leading try-scorers list with 17.
Kalokalodrau also crossed for a try to become just the third player to reach 10 for the season after North Tamworth winger Senirusi Rauqe did so earlier in the afternoon when he bagged a first-half double against Kootingal-Moonbi to go to 11.
The other Boggabri tries were scored by White and Nadalo.
The Kangaroos’ coach Shane Rampling was pleased with his side’s win and was even more thrilled with the atmosphere created by the crowd on sponsors’ day.
“It was a great turnout for sponsors’ day. It was a really good crowd,” Rampling said.
“It was a brilliant day. It’s always really good to get a win on sponsors’ day in front of so many people who support us.
“Our forwards really stepped up and laid the platform, which allowed Drew (halfback Andrew Wallace) and Ash (White) to do their thing.
“I thought we played really well and we really got into the arm wrestle well. They came to play Dungowan. They were really physical and it was a good tussle early on.
“They had a couple of chances but we snuffed them out, and once we got on top, we put on some good tries. Then in the second half, we wore them out and I think our fitness told in the end as we ran away with it.
“There were a couple of silly mistakes and silly penalties from us, but all in all, it was a pretty dominant performance. I thought that we were always in control.
“It’s the first time we’ve kept a side to zero. That’s a pretty good effort and it’s something to build on now.”
The other matches at Jubilee Oval were won by Dungowan as the Cowboys prevailed 38-22 in reserve grade and 48-0 in ladies’ league tag.
Dungowan finished the weekend in second place in reserve grade and first in league tag, while Boggabri are now fourth and last in those competitions, respectively.
The Kangaroos are away from home in round 10 this Saturday when they travel to challenge North Tamworth Bears at Jack Woolaston Oval.
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