Bulls Take the Double at Home Against Coonamble

It was a double win for the Bogan Bulls for their first home game of the season in Western Plains Rugby Union, with both the men’s and ladies’ teams keeping Coonamble scoreless on the day.

By Abigail McLaughlin

Bogan Bulls defeated Coonamble 20-nil on Saturday. Photos by The Nyngan Weekly: Abigail McLaughlin.

The Unbeaten Bogan Bulls ladies.

Despite a skittish first half that was plagued by some poor ball control, the Bulls finished the game with a convincing 20-nil scorecard, thanks mostly to their strong defence.

Coach Rob Kennedy said handling errors early on made the job harder than it should have been for the Nyngan side.

“You can’t build pressure without holding onto the ball and several drop balls in the first 20 minutes let Coonamble think they were in with a chance and then it takes another 20 minutes to get the momentum back!” he said.

Kennedy singled out the “individual brilliance” from Kiwi import “Boots Bailey” Booth on the wing which got the team rolling.

Booth also scored a length of field try at the end of the game to wrap up the final score and earned himself a player point for his contribution.

“Several first graders were unavailable for the game, and out, and then we had an injury to Craigo Ticehurst which unsettled the back line, but Lachie Donnelly did his best and got us back on track,” Kennedy said.

“The reality is you can’t play well if you don’t train together.

“There has been excellent commitment from about 70 percent of the group and the other 30 percent are letting us down unfortunately.”

Player points were awarded to Bailey Booth (players’ player) and Tom Cleaver, Lachie Donnelly and, Brendan Nelson.

Meanwhile, the Ladies Tri Tag continued to keep their opposition scoreless with another solid display winning 70-nil.

The ladies are showing the obvious benefit of being coached by representative rugby players Dannielle Plummer and Sarah Pearce.

The points were awarded to Ebony Martin, Courtney Watt (payers’ player), and Abbi Parry.

Following the games the Bulls moved celebrations to their sponsor, the Nyngan Bowling Club, and also held its player auction.

Auctioneers Pete Hargreaves and Lachie Donnelly auctioned off players, with buyers in the running to win back 70 percent of the proceeds if their player wins the best and fairest prize at the end of the season. The auction raised a total of $8750.