A LATE spurt saw the Bulls suffer one of their biggest losses against old foes Narrabri at Dangar Park on Saturday.
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The 31-7 result was the biggest margin between the two sides for a few seasons, although the score line doesn’t quite tell the whole story. There was only three in it with around 15 minutes to go.
Bulls co-coach Simon Hall said the Blue Boars probably just wore them down in the end.
“That last 10-15 the Blue Boars started to make some inroads down their (Bulls) left - hand side, and they fell off a couple of tackles.
“Our boys put in a good effort – we were probably a bit out on our feet,” Hall said.
The first half was what hurt them.
“We probably didn’t convert our field position into points,” Hall said.
They were against the wind in the first half but didn’t get the benefit of it in the second half with the wind turning around.
“But that wasn’t a great issue,” Hall said.
“We just couldn’t get out of our half in the second half. They were able to manage field position better than we were.”
Once they got the ball, they started to make some inroads, but their execution let them down.
Matt Wannan at number eight had another big game.
Alex Corlis, Nathan Ebbett and Heath Riggs also played well.
Blue Boars coach Nick Lennon was delighted with the win, especially after their rusty first-up effort against Barraba.
“Today was outstanding,” Lennon said.
“We had no ball in the first half partly because we made a lot of mistakes and our lineout was poor.”
But their defence kept them in the game.
“Our defence was just outstanding,” Lennon said.
“I don’t think I’ve seen many a better defensive display from a Narrabri team in my association with the club.”
It kept it to 7-3 in favour of the Bulls at the break. Part of the reason they struggled for possession, Lennon felt, was because of their smaller pack. But because of that, they were probably a bit fitter and that bore fruit as the game went on. They finished the game off strongly, scoring after the bell for the bonus point.
“We had a lot of passages of play where we were on the front foot and got quick ball and got over the advantage line,” Lennon said.
Matt McDonnell was again their best and picked up the three points. Henry Curtin also had a big game, especially in defence.
Lennon also singled out the defence of Mitch Kelly and James Thomas in the centres.
Thomas had had to move in from the wing after Henri Knight was injured at training on Thursday night.