HEATH Riggs and Mat Wannan both celebrated milestones in style during the Bulls’ 36-24 win over Gunnedah in the Central North Rugby Union first grade minor semi-final on Saturday.
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Riggs notched up his 200th game and directed the side well from the back while Wannan reached 100 games and scored a try in the 12-point victory.
Coach, Damien Kelly, said Riggs and Wannan were the backbone of the side.
“They’re the heart and soul of Moree and what we’re trying to achieve here,” he said. “They both had excellent games; they’re good boys and good mates so I’m glad we got the win for them.”
The Bulls will now have a week off before they clash with arch-rivals Narrabri or Pirates in the grand final qualifier in a fortnight.
“I don’t have a preference, but I wouldn’t mind Narrabri winning because if we do make the grand final I’d rather we played it at Narrabri than at Tamworth.
“But in saying that, we have to beat both of them to defend our title so it doesn’t really bother me.”
Kelly said the most pleasing aspect of the win was his side’s defence, especially early in the match when they struggled to get out of their own half.
“There was a lot of talk and a lot of our fellas put their body on the line. If that didn’t happen, with the amount of ball Gunnedah had on our line it probably would have been a different result, so that’s pleasing.
“But we’re here for another week so we’ve got another game, win that one and we’re in the big one.”
The Bulls started the match with a try through half-back Andrew Pauli in the fourth minute of play with one of their first touches of the ball.
Twenty minutes later Jordan Cosh sliced through the Gunnedah right-hand side defence to extend the lead to 14-3 after Pete Henderson kicked a 15th minute penalty goal to put the visitors on the board.
Red Devils forward Josh Howarth closed the gap to four points five minutes later after they pressured the Bulls’ goal-line for several minutes.
Moree’s pick-and-drive allowed John Adams to get on the scoresheet leading up to half time before Cameron Kesby crossed next to the posts for the visitors to close to 19-17 at the break.
Second half tries to Ciaran O’Gorman and Wannan ensured the Bulls kept a safe distance between themselves and Gunnedah for the remainder of the match.
Bulls interchange forward Nick Gelling was sent off after the siren for a deliberate shoulder charge in a collision which brought the crowd to its feet.
“It was unfortunate, but I’m pretty happy I was here to witness it,” Kelly said.
For more photos of the weekend sporting action: http://bit.ly/1qd4GiG
