The opening day of last weekend’s NSW Country Rugby Championship didn’t go to plan for Central West but, encouragingly, the Blue Bulls bounced back on day two and will remain in the top tier Caldwell Cup in 2018 as a result.
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A year after winning the tier two Richardson Shield and earning promotion, Central West went to Port Macquarie confident of contending for this year’s major prize.
This year’s Central West teams included four players from Parkes – Israel Symington, Lloyd Rogers, Dan Ryan and new 18-year-old recruit Bobby Murray-Waititi.
The side met Newcastle-Hunter on Saturday’s opening day.
The Novocastrians ran riot, winning 58-8 to qualify for the final while Central West was resigned to fighting it out with Central North to avoid relegation.
They won that fight though, producing the performance head coach Dean Oxley knew they were capable of and smashing Central North 48-3 to finish third.
“It was disappointing (on Saturday). We lost Filisione (Pauta) early on day one and that hurt, he brings composure to the backs. We were in the fight at 14-8, then Viliame (Turuva) was yellow carded. They scored 23 points while we were down to 14,” Oxley said.
“There’s no excuses though, Newcastle played some red-hot rugby and carved us up.
“Our performance on Sunday was much better, the standard of opposition was far lower than Saturday but we’d made it our goal to keep our place in the Caldwell Cup.
“We played some really good rugby on the second day, quick, attacking rugby. There was great link work and we scored some really nice tries. We didn’t really give Central North a chance, which was really pleasing.”
Oxley said, considering Central West’s last result in the Caldwell Cup in 2015, the side proved its place is in the top tier and confirmed he’ll throw his hat in the ring to coach the side in 2018 as well.
Despite the third finish, Oxley was hoping a number of the Central West players would be named in the NSW Country Cockatoos squad.
Announced on Thursday, Parkes’ Dan Ryan is one of four players from the Central West team that have now been selected for the NSW Country Cockatoos.
According to Cockatoos head coach Mat Thomas, Dan Ryan was among those that made an impact when it mattered.
Oxley highlighted Orange Emus’ Nick Hughes-Clapp, Tom Goolagong and Carter Hirini, along with Forbes’ Charlie French and Parkes’ Lloyd Rogers as some of the Blue Bulls’ best.
All Parkes players were solid contributors to the Central West team, playing in both Saturday and Sunday games.
Israel Symington played his usual game with barnstorming charges up the centre of the field, always putting immense pressure on the opponent defence and making great metres.
Dan Ryan was good in attack and defence as well as taking control of the lineouts, repeatedly using his experience to put the Central West side on the attack.
As Oxley mentioned, Lloyd Rogers was a standout performer on the second day with a perfect record with the boot.
He converted all the Central West tries and conversions, as well as scoring a try himself, contributing 27 points to the team’s total.
Bobby Murray-Waititi also stood out on the second day.
He was great in attack, scoring three tries for the Central West Colts.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
