After just three rounds only the Cobar Roosters and the Coolah ‘Roos remain unbeaten in the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League first grade competition and, as fate would have it, those two sides will be clashing this Saturday in what will be a gigantic Boronia Cup game at Cobar’s Tom Knight Oval.

The Roosters saw off the Baradine Magpies 34 to 12 at Cobar last Saturday with their dynamic co-coach Loma Atuau crossing for two of his teams seven tries in what was another impressive performance by the red, white and blues.

Meanwhile at Coolah the resurgent ‘Roos continued their notable return to the Castlereagh scene with a strong 48 to 10 defeat of the Coonabarabran Unicorns.

Their league tag team, the Flyers also retained their unbeaten status when they recorded an emphatic 64 to nil win over the Unicorns.

In the other first grade games the Narromine Jets were too strong for Coonamble, recording a large 56 to 16 win over the Bears at Coonamble. The Jet’s five-eight, and last years’ Castlereagh League Player of the Year, Doug Potter, scored 24 of his side’s points, crossing for three tries and slotting six goals in a fine individual performance.

The remaining game saw the Gilgandra Panthers get up for their first win of the season, just getting the job done against the visiting Gulgong Terriers.

In what was an absorbing and exciting finish to a close game, the Panthers were called on to grimly defend a slender 22 to 20 lead for the final 15 minutes. This they did despite the Terriers throwing plenty at them in those final stages of a game that could have easily gone either way.

Quite obviously the match of the round this Saturday will be the Boronia Cup game at Cobar between the Roosters and the ‘Roos, and what a match it promises to be with both outfits big in size and mobility across the park and chockful of confidence.

Indeed, it will be a real test for the Coolah club, in terms of how they travel and how they perform against a side that is warming as the early season favourite to collect the 2024 premiership.

Should make for interesting viewing a huge crowd is expected to take in the action!

Apart from the game at Cobar there will be some other enthralling match ups around the Castlereagh area with the Baradine Magpies playing the Gilgandra Panthers for the Campbell-Noonan Cup at Baradine.

Molly Broughton from Cobar PHOTO: B Print

A highlight of the day will be a commemoration of the life of Ken Campbell who recently passed away.

Ken was a legendary Baradine player who was a member of the famous 1974 Western Division side that won the AMCO Cup and was well respected both on and off the field as a tough competitor and great bloke.

The Campbell-Noonan Cup has been played for between the Baradine and Gilgandra clubs for a number of years now and is partly named after Ken, the other half of the name honouring Gilgandra great, “Buzz” Noonan who incidentally is Ken’s brother-in-law, the two had many monumental battles on the field in years gone by!

At Gulgong, the Terriers will be hoping to return to the winning list against the visiting Narromine Jets and, as will the Coonabarabran Unicorns when they travel to Coonamble to try and down the Bears at Bearstone Park!

Christie and Hood Castlereagh League Round 3 scores

Youth League

Narromine 28 (Darby Gordon 2, Rorey Miller-Coen, Tate McNeil, Ashton Coleman, Will Kerr tries, Zac Everett 2 goals) defeated Binnaway 12 (Toby Kelly, Nash Walker, Beau Hinton tries).

Competition Table; Gulgong 6, Binnaway 4, Cobar 4, Narromine 4.

League Tag

Narromine 44 (Emily Edwards 2, Emily Fardell 2, Lily Spackman, Jacana Powell, Shian Chatfield, Hayley Crawley tries, Chatfield 4, Spackman 2 goals) defeated Binnaway 0.

Coolah 64 (Mackenzie Blackadder 3, Molly Burgess 3, Jacinta Dummett 2, Jenna Packham, Emma Ratatagia, Fiona Westbourne-Martin, Kadesha Ayoub tries, Jasmine Thompson 6, Channy Burgess 2 goals) defeated Coonabarabran 0.

Dunedoo 32 (Shelley Cox 5, Eva Hogden tries, Chloe Brougham 4 goals) defeated Coonamble 4 (Kiara Cross try).

Cobar 22 (Molly Broughton 2, Brennah Aumua, Kayla Hasson, Taylah Good tries, Brianna Watson goal) defeated Baradine 16 (Jalika Leslie 2, Claudia Eastburn, Stephanie Dewson tries).

Gulgong 10 (Chloe Patrick, Matilda Harper tries, Laurissa Hay goal) defeated Gilgandra 8 (Zillah Rogers, Laura Jordan tries).

Competition Table:

Narromine 9, Dunedoo 9, Coolah 9, Baradine 7, Gulgong 7, Coonamble 5, Cobar 5, Gilgandra 3, Binnaway 3, Coonabarabran 3.

First Grade

Coolah 48 (Jack Piper 3, Sam Wesley 2, Jayden Brown 2, Tyler Lennox, Austin Burgess, Chanse Burgess tries, Hugh Wesley 3, Dan Lane goals) defeated Coonabarabran 10 (Brad Fuller, Jarvis Watton tries, Fuller goal).

Narromine 56 ( Doug Potter 3, Brent Paige 2, Janus Walford 2, Luke Thompson 2, Ryan Richardson, Darby Gordon tries, Potter 6 goals) defeated Coonamble 16 (Preston Smith, Jack Kelly, Jye Dixon tries, Mitch Nalder 2 goals).

Cobar 34 (Loma Atuau 2, Jack Brown, Ben Griffiths, Tim Hillam, Zane Taylor, Veni Taumololo, Kai Taylor tries, Thomas Plater 2, Griffiths goal) defeated Baradine 12 (Jamie Knox-Greenaway, Logan Dewson, Dylan Hohnberg tries).

Gilgandra 22 (Jarrod Fuller 2, Wade Peachey, Jay Towney tries, Ty Sutherland 3 goals) defeated Gulgong 20 (Zac Warwicker 2, Brodie McGann, Jai Cain tries, Brad James 2 goals).

Competition Ladder:

Cobar 9, Coolah 9, Coonabarabran 7, Narromine 7, Gulgong 5, Gilgandra 5, Baradine 3, Coonamble 3.

Round 4

Friday 17^th May

7.30pm Coonabarabran V Dunedoo (League Tag)

Saturday 18^th May

Baradine V Gilgandra

Gulgong V Narromine

Cobar V Coolah (Boronia Challenge Cup game)

Coonamble V Binnaway (League Tag)

Coonamble V Coonabarabran (First Grade)

Sunday 19^th May

Cobar V Orange United Warriors (Youth League) at Peak Hill.