After three straight wins on Saturday, the Bulls rushed back to Moree as another violent weather front approached. 

Paul King, who was co-coach on the day with Matt Moore, said it was a “pretty interesting” drive home with a number of detours due to fallen trees and water across the highway.  

Earlier, a crowd of several hundred turned out to Crow Park to see the second annual gala event. The four teams held 30 minute games of 15 players per side. 

Moree went behind early in their first game against Armidale’s Robb College and were down 0-5 after ten minutes. But it was the only points the Bulls would concede for the rest of the day and they romped home to claim that match 17-5. 

King described the second match against the Gwydir River Rats as a “bit of a spiteful affair”. 

“Those boys always bring a bit of niggle,” King said. 

Both teams received a yellow card after a bit of push and shove but the Bulls took all the points, winning 12-0. 

A massive storm then sent players and supporters scrambling inside the clubhouse as hail struck and rain lashed the field. 

The sun re-emerged and the Bulls resumed where they left off in the muggy afternoon heat. Keen to wrap things up before the next storm hit, Moree ran out 24-0 winners against the Crows.

King said the coaches were pleased to see the team gather momentum in the pre-season hit out.

“There was significant improvement over the day,” he said. 

“We’ve got a lot of new guys who hadn’t played together before and you saw the structures improve with every game.” 

It was the experience heads who guided the team through their second Croppa Challenge title, King said.  

“Dean Cooke at inside centre made some really good runs Jordan Cosh at fly-half had an excellent couple of games and Will Hiscox and Zach Mather were good in the forwards,” he said. 

The coach also gave a nod to some of the newer faces, James Kanaley, Reece Manning and Ed Onus. The Bulls will play their next game away to Goondiwindi this Friday evening.

Croppa Creek is looking to play friendly matches against Moree and Gwydir as they continue to build toward a permanent spot in the competition. 

Crow’s secretary Andrew Gillan thanked the volunteer effort which made for a family-friendly atmosphere on Saturday.