by Bryson Luff

The Cobar Roosters became the first team to defeat the Coolah Kangaroos in season 2024 when they won a high standard major semi final at Dunedoo’s Robertson Oval on Saturday in front of a bumper crowd in the Castlereagh Rugby League.

In what was an eleventh-hour decision the Kangaroos were dealt a blow before the game even kicked off when the Coolah ground was deemed unsuitable for play and any home ground advantage that they would have had was forfeited with the semis having to be transferred to Dunedoo.

The change of venue seemed not to bother the Coolah side, and they raced out to a 12 to nil leaders with Chanse Burgess going over twice for two converted tries mid-way through the first half and they seemed to be doing it easy

However it was to be the Roosters who went to the half time break as 16 to 12 leaders after their winger Jack Brown was able to ground a well placed grubber from his hooker Thomas Plater in the 23^rd minute, followed not long after by centre Fraser Talu leaping high to latch onto a pin point cross field kick to edge the Chooks to within two points of the ‘Roos with the scoreboard reading 12 to 10 at that point.

Talu was in again on the cusp of half time after a nice pass from front rower Gerald Mackay put him in a gap and with the conversion successful the ‘Roos went to the sheds facing a four-point deficit.

With the game flowing from end to end, both sides were called upon to defend their line stoutly on a number of occasions and it wasn’t until the 24^th minute into the second stanza that the scoreboard attendant was called to duty when Coolah’s hard running centre, Josh Charles, was able to crash over for a converted try and the ‘Roos had regained the lead 18 to 16.

The Roosters replied with eight minutes remaining when their lock Loma Atuau charged his way over for what was a converted try and Cobar was back in front 22 to 18.

The final tense minutes of the match had the large and vocal crowd on their feet but there was to be no addition to either score and the Roosters had not only won the game but also the right to host the 2024 grand final on August 31.

High quality games all around

The high quality of football shown in the first grade game was also mirrored in the lower grades with the Narromine Jets coming from 8 nil down to get over the top of the Dunedoo Swannettes 18 to 14 in the league tag, the Gilgandra Panthers just edging out the Binnaway Bombshells 16 to 12 in the reserve grade after both sides scored three tries and Cobar winning the Youth League 28 to 12 over Gulgong.

The football action continued Sunday with the Gulgong Terriers featuring in all grades in the minor semi finals that were played at Narromine.

Unfortunately, it was a case of three up and three down for the club, as they lost the reserve grade 46 to 16 to the Baradine Magpies, before going down 38 to 12 to the Coolah Flyers in the league tag and then much to the dismay of their supporters their first grade side could not hold on to an 18 to 6 lead that they held midway through the second half with the fast finishing Narromine Jets storming home to stay alive in the 2024 premiership race with a 24 to 18 victory.

Roos to play at Bowen Oval

The Coolah Kangaroos will be hoping that the weather gods are on their side this week so that they can get to play the preliminary finals at Bowen Oval on Saturday.

The Kangaroos will have both their league tag and first grade sides in action up against Dunedoo and Narromine respectively.

The reserve grade game between Binnaway and Baradine will get proceedings underway at 10.15am followed by the youth league clash between Binnaway and Gulgong then the league tag and first grade with the winners advancing to the grand finals the following Saturday.

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League semi-final score

Major semi finals results played at Dunedoo Saturday, August 17

Reserve grade

Gilgandra 16 (Lachlan Briggs, George Alchin, Jay Towney tries, Alex Sutherland 2 goals) defeated Binnaway 12 (Cody Whitty, Ben Harris, Logan Meyers tries).

Youth League

Cobar 28 (Reece Josephson 3, Oisin McMullen, Aiden Swan tries, Tadgh McMullen 4 goals) defeated Gulgong 12 (Kayden Whiley, Jackson Pascoe tries, Caiden Horton 2 goals).

League Tag

Narromine 18 (Emily Fardell 2, Chloe McLean , Emily Edwards tries, Shian Chatfield goal) defeated Dunedoo 14 (Shelley Cox, Alexis Gallagher, Lauren Sullivan tries , Georgia Price goal).

First Grade

Cobar 22 (Fraser Talu 2, Jack Brown, Loma Atuau tries, Thomas Plater 3 goals) defeated Coolah 18 (Chanse Burgess 2, Josh Charles tries, Dan Lane 3 goals).

Minor semi finals results played at Narromine Sunday, August 18:

Reserve Grade

Baradine 46 (Liam Blackhall 2, Wade Sutherland 2, Connor Hughes, Travis Houghton, Will Nash, John Milgate tries, Liam Fernando 6 goals) defeated Gulgong 16 ( Tyron Reynolds 2, John Douglas tries, Jai Cai 2 goals).

League Tag

Coolah 38 (Brooklyn Blackadder 5, Jacinta Dummett, Molly Burgess tries, Lisa Jones 5 goals) defeated Gulgong 12 (Imogen Hollow, Chloe Patrick tries, Claire Bodiam 2 goals).

First Grade

Narromine 24 (Janus Walford, Epeli Draunidalo, Brad Pickering, Ryan McCarney tries, Pickering 3 goals) defeated Gulgong 18 (Blake Gorrie, Will Hawkins, Willie Daucakacaca tries, Brad James 3 tries)

Preliminary Finals to be played at Coolah Saturday, August 24

First game to kick off at 10.15am with other games to follow:

Reserve Grade

Binnaway V Baradine

Youth League

Gulgong V Binnaway

League Tag

Dunedoo V Coolah

First Grade

Coolah V Narromine