Hard fought victories as Walgett and Coonamble take upset wins in grand final

Walgett Rams Grand Final winners. Back row l-r: Jodie Watts (President), Will Grant, Charlie Toll, Andrew Redford, Josh Hay-McKenzie, Jonty White, Oliver Stump, Tim Mutton, Lachie Holz, Jack Lebsanft, Hamish Moore, Jayden Pryer, Casey Blackman, Paddy O’Brien, (coach), Jack Witts. Front l-r: Charlie Friend, Sam Toll, Josh Hill, Jacob Watts, Ed Murphy, Dillon Walford, Grant Green, Paddy Burns, Liam Jones, Jack Yeomans. Photo contributed

Rugby Union

The rugby union season is over, with Walgett victorious over Nyngan in the Elders First Grade grand final and Coonamble defeating Gulargambone ion the Ahrens Women’s Tri Tag taking out the women’s tri tag. With a crowd of almost 1000 packing out the Algy Friend oval in Walgett, the scene was set for a thrilling finish to one of the best rugby union seasons in years.

The game between Walgett and Nyngan was as tough as they come, with the battle-hardened Nyngan Bogan Bulls showing the swagger that comes with having past grand final titles under the belt. But the Walgett Rams were determined to change history, and at the final siren had a convincing win of 35-20 over the Bulls.

Western Plains Rugby Union President Tom Cullen said the match was a replay of the game two weeks ago in the major semi-finals, but that’s where the déjà vu ended.

“Walgett looked strong and got out to good start with a couple of early tries giving them a handy lead,” Tom said.

“Nyngan made some changes after half time and it looked like replay of last year’s grand final when they got within ten points of Walgett and had some momentum behind them, but to Walgett’s credit, they wanted to dominate and finish it off.

“They scored another try and took it out of Nyngan’s reach. Walgett deserved the win and although Nyngan have been in finals for many years they were gracious in defeat and knew Walgett were just too strong.

“The physicality of the game was next level - out here in the Western Plains we don’t quite cut it with other zones, but this game was different. It was very physical and fast and every Walgett player was involved, with a couple of their players back from Sydney and zone games.

“It was a cracker of a match,” he said.

Player of the Match was Paddy Burns, Players of the Year were Junior Kikala and Will Johnson. The Rob Creighton Trophy for Western Plains Representative Player of the Year went to Jeremy Holmes.

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