Blue Boars’ first XV secure first win of the season in superb style

Narrabri Rugby Club completed a memorable Dangar Park blue rinse in style on Saturday when the club’s first grade side took down Gunnedah Red Devils in round three of the 2026 Central North Rugby Union campaign.

After the club’s women’s 10s and reserve grade teams had scored comfortable wins in their first home fixture of the season, the Blue Boars’ first grade side sent the home crowd home happy after outscoring the visitors 64-19 to register not only their first win of the campaign but also the largest winning margin of any first grade match so far this year.

Narrabri led 35-0 late in the first half before Gunnedah struck with two converted tries just before half-time, and then after the two sides traded a try each early after the break to make it 40-19, the hosts ran away with the game as they ran in four unanswered tries during the final half-an-hour.

Narrabri coach Craig Gleeson told The Courier that he was impressed with the performance of his side, and that singing the team song with his players for the first time this season was a special feeling.

“I was happy for the boys, more than anything. They’ve been putting in a lot of hard work, and that came to fruition,” Gleeson said.

“We’ve really been building over the past two weeks. I thought last week (a 24-22 away loss against Quirindi in round two), we were pretty good without getting the result.

“To control that game (against Gunnedah) in the first 30-35 minutes the way we did was great to see.

“We were under a bit of pressure early on but our defence really stood up. It’s something we’ve spoken about; when we’re good defensively, our attack feeds off the back of that, and that was proven right. Once we got the ball off them after that initial bit of defence, we really did control it and it was really positive.

“Those two tries just before half-time, I think that we just got a bit in front of ourselves, really. We were playing pretty good footy and got a bit over-confident to be honest, and got away from our structure a little bit.

“That period there was a good reminder that no matter who you’re playing or how the game’s going, you need to stick to your structure and keep grinding away.

“Apart from that, we stuck to the gameplan and structure really well. Our control with the ball was a lot better this week. We didn’t push passes when we didn’t need to.

“A win like that one on Anzac Day was pretty special for the boys. Playing on a day like Anzac Day is an honour, and we’d spoken during the week about doing that day some justice. I think the boys really did that.

“It was a really good crowd too.

“Singing the song with the boys after wins is always special, and it was definitely special after that win. I’m just fortunate that I get to coach such a good bunch of blokes, to be honest. I’m fortunate with the calibre of player we have there, and I’m fortunate with the respect they show me. To sing the song with them after a win is a real honour for me, and I really soak it up and take it in.”

While it was a brilliant team performance from the Blue Boars, their halfback Charlie Radford was a clear standout as he ran in four tries and laid on two more with perfect short balls as he outclassed the Red Devils during the 45-point demolition.

“Charlie’s fitness and the effort he puts in off the ball are phenomenal. You’d lose count how many times each week he’s there to make a cover tackle or he’s making multiple efforts inside one phase,” Gleeson said.

“That puts you in the right spot a lot of the time.

“His fitness and his drive at the moment are outstanding, and you can’t fault the bloke for the effort he puts in off the field either. He prepares really well for his Saturdays, and he’s seeing the rewards for that at the moment.

“He’s been one of our best every week and he’s at a different level this year.

“Jack Maunder was really good again. He worked himself to a stand-still. It’s not very often he puts his hand up with 10 minutes to go, but he was absolutely spent after working himself into the ground. He was outstanding.

“I think Jed Brennan coming back from a pretty serious head knock was really good in the front row, which was positive to see, and Rob Burke in the second row again was really good.

“Then the usuals like Willo (McDonnell) and Joe (Baker) had strong games, and Webby (Andrew Weber) on the wing was really good for us again.”

Neither side had broken the deadlock at the 10-minute mark, but the Blue Boars were on the front foot and attacking the Gunnedah line at that stage.

That pressure took its toll in the 11th minute after Gunnedah kicked a dropout and McDonnell broke the defensive line and passed to Will Ciesolka, who charged over between the posts to open the scoring.

The Blue Boars then started to carve up the Red Devils as Radford crossed twice off the back of two brilliant supporting runs, either side of a Hamish Nolan runaway try.

Jock Small converted all four of those to make the score 28-0 before the 30-minute mark, which then became 35-0 with just over eight minutes remaining until half-time as Radford completed his hat-trick with a crafty play close to the line and Small nailed his fifth conversion from as many attempts.

Gunnedah got themselves on the board in the 37th minute when their outside centre Nate Harris ran a brilliant line to finally break the Blue Boars’ defence, and they went over again a minute after play restarted as James Perrett ran 70 metres to score.

Abbott Stacy converted both of those tries to make the half-time score 35-14, but any sort of momentum that Gunnedah was starting to build was thwarted by the break as the Blue Boars came out firing and Will Turner charged onto a Radford short pass close to the line and went over to score to make it 40-14.

Gunnedah did hit back five minutes later through winger Luke Jeffrey, but that was the last time the visitors would cross the stripe as the final half-hour belonged to the Blue Boars.

Radford went in for his fourth five-pointer of the day less than two minutes after Narrabri had kicked off to make it 45-19, which became 52-19 in the 53rd minute when another classy Radford short ball put Joe Baker over close to the line for a try that Small converted.

Narrabri co-captains McDonnell and Maunder had been two of their side’s best throughout the match, and both were rewarded with a try each in the final 20 minutes, one of which Andrew Weber converted to make the final score 64-19.

The Blue Boars are now third on the ladder after scoring their first win of the year. They are on eight points and they now trail Moree and Quirindi by seven after the 2025 grand finalists scored home wins in round three to both move to 15 points.

The Bulls defeated the Tamworth Pirates 68-26 while the Lions took down Inverell Highlanders 46-14.

Narrabri will travel to Inverell in round four to tackle the Highlanders this Saturday.