Sport
30 June, 2024
Gulargambone Rugby Union v Warren Pumas
Inclement weather in Gilgandra was met with sunny skies in Warren as the Gulargambone Rugby Union Club winged their way to Warren on Saturday, June 22 to take on the Pumas in three grades.
By the Substitute Pink Parrot
Tri Tag
The Flamin’ Galahs were first up. On a firm dry track for the first time in weeks, this was the ladies' time to relish. Wide expansive play with plenty of talk and running had the Lady Pumas (i.e., cougars or queens) on the hop. Again, with great forward hard running by all ladies, well-controlled hands, and ball security, the Flamin’ Galahs again jumped out to an early lead of 12-nil.
This was clawed back by the Lady Pumas (i.e., cougars or queens) with a somewhat controversial try that saw the scores back to 12-7. The first half by the Flamin’ Galahs was well and truly the best Tri Tag rugby by the ladies thus far this year.
By half-time, the score reached 17-7 in favour of the Flamin’ Galahs. In the third quarter, things went a little off track, not too bad, there were some dropped balls, but great defence kept the Lady Pumas (i.e., cougars or queens) at bay. Into the fourth and last quarter, the score remained 17-7.
The Flamin’ Galahs controlled the last quarter well. A converted try had them up 24-7 for most of the last quarter. This was before a small relapse right on full-time allowed the Lady Pumas to score a converted try. This made the full-time score 24-14 to the Flamin’ Galahs.
This win has secured the Galahs in second place on the points table at the halfway point of the season. This game was by far their best but there is still room for improvement. It is slowly coming together. Paige Wilson again bagged another three-try hat trick to go with last week's three tries and flashy winger Sharna Steedman is also making a habit of scoring, backing up another try from last week.
Points for the day went as follows: one point to Stef Alchin and Abbie Semmler. Two points to Caitlynn King. Three points to Casino import Alana Clark. Player’s player was a three-way tie to Heidi Ferguson, Chelsea Broom, and Kelsey Hutchison.
First Grade
The mighty Gular men were next out to take on premiers and competition leaders Warren in the first-grade fixture. Reputations meant nothing to the Gular team, and they dominated the Warren team in the forwards and backs at the start of play.
The Warren men are a very fit, fast, and well-drilled team and continued to pile on the pressure on Gular in the breakdown and it was not long till they were on the board. The Gular team again did not take a backward step and great defence by James Foran and Dev Bamblett kept the Pumas at bay. B-FAB (Baby-Faced Assassin Backline) star Zac Ferguson went over for his first try with some great shimmy shimmy movement. A short time later the old fox Tim Bowman saw a gap close the try line and took it and this had the scoreline reading 19-12 to the Warren Pumas close to half-time.
Again, as luck would have it, Warren scored right on half-time right in the far corner and this was converted, and the Pumas were up 26-12 at the break.
The scoreline in the second half did not do the Gular boys justice. They kept making great inroads in attack around the breakdown by the likes of Mitch Graham, Jack Bradley, and Michal Roche. The B-FAB backline was in full swing again. Great runs by Harry Spora, Jake Peart, Darcy Neeves, and Elten Walker also have the club excited about where it is heading with these fresh talented faces.
By the time the referee blew the full-time whistle, Warren had run out winners by 60-12 over a gallant Gular men's outfit. It was a really gutsy effort by the men's team that never gave up the pump all throughout the game. Points were awarded as follows: one point to James Foran; two points to Darcy Neeves; three points to Harry Spora. Player’s player went again to the human wrecking machine that is Mitch Graham.
Reserve Grade
As the sun was setting and the temperature was quickly dropping, anticipation was in the air for the much-awaited return of the infamous Gulargambone Rugby Union reserve grade team. It has been kept under very secret wraps as to the makeup of this exclusive team given the vast array of experienced and talented players that were available in the district.
To protect the innocent two of the forwards in the Gular team, if you put their ages together you were well over the century mark given the amount of experience these two ‘old blokes’ had. Coach Zac Mills from Flamin’ Galahs infamy was there with one eye closed overdoing his best captain Jack Sparrow impersonation from a stray elbow in the first-grade game.
Shane Halfpenny was muscled up with his model looks ready to make a welcome return. QLD university rep John Bunter was transferred late to make his NSW debut. Young Wayne Smith and Tyrell ‘Diddy’ Trudgett came along and jumped in and enjoyed their first game of union.
We had NSW fire brigade officer ‘Briggsy’ who came for a run and was on hand in case the team got too hot to handle. But the cream rose to the top when we had the third Ferguson brother, Ryan, who made his rugby debut when he took to the field to play alongside older sibling Zac.
Not since the three Ella brothers in the 1980s have we seen such a vast array of talent from three siblings being Zac ‘Mark Ella’ Ferguson, younger sibling Ryan ‘Gary Ella’ Ferguson, and third sibling/uncle (close enough) Shaun ‘Glen Ella’ Ferguson (who unfortunately could not play on this day due to Randwick commitments). The whisper on the street is that the three ‘Ella’ aka Ferguson siblings/uncle will be unleashed in two weeks' time playing in the backline for the mighty Gular reserves against Walgett. We will keep you posted.
And salary cap exemptions allowed the team to borrow about 10 or so first graders from the previous game to make up the rest. What a bunch of misfits. Or was it? Warren had at their disposal 20 reserve grade players all trying to vie for positions in the 23 spots already taken in first grade.
This was not meant to be a contest but a slaughter in their eyes - or so they thought. No one gave the mighty reserve grade Gular men's team this script and if they had they threw it out the window. As the game went on the performance from the Gular reserve grade team went from ‘Ugly Duckling’ to that of ‘Swan Lake’ proportions.
Smart play from B-FAB pair Zac ‘call me Mark Ella now’ Ferguson who was changing from half-back to tight head front row given his versatility put a smart kick through to fellow B-FAB band member Jake Peart on the wing who just pinned his ears back and quoted the late Tom Petty when he said, “I’m learning to fly” and scored a magnificent try in the corner.
The score remained 12-5 to the Warren team for much of the remainder of the match and the mighty reserve grade Gular team of misfits could smell blood in the water and were clawing their way back into the game. Warren could see the pendulum of confidence swinging their opposition's way and had to resort to escape plan B and get some of their first graders on to finish off the job before this team of misfits from the east caused carnage on their reputation.
Warren scored in the dying seconds and came away with a 17-5 win on the day. The game was played hard but in good spirits by all the players.
Combined Codes For Cancer Day
Attention now turns to the much-anticipated Combined Codes For Cancer Day where the Galahs will combine with the Panthers in a feast of football in a combined day of union and league. The clubs will be raising funds for the Gilgandra and District Cancer Fundraisers. The two local clubs will be taking on the Cobar Camels in the union and the Cobar Roosters in the league.
Please make your way down and take in a feast of football and support a wonderful organisation along the way.
