CNRU Round 18: Narrabri roll minor premiers Gunnedah 25-19 to lock in major semi-final spot

The Blue Boars went into their final round clash with Gunnedah knowing they could meet them again in the major semi-final, and needing to win to make that happen.

In what coach Jake Packer described as "one hell of a game", they rose to the occasion, sealing second spot with a 25-19 win.

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It was a see-sawing tussle, Toby Knight's boot giving the Blue Boars the early lead. The Red Devils responded with a try to Cameron Mitchell but two tries in six minutes and another penalty to Knight gave the home side the lead 18-5 at half-time.

Daniel Kahl then burrowed over to push their advantage out to 20 points with just over 20 minutes remaining.

But, one of the Red Devils' strengths is their ability to score points quickly, and when skipper James Perrett raced away to finish off a well-executed short side scrum play it was back to a six point game with 14 minutes to play.

The Blue Boars though were able to grind it out for the win.

"It was good to get the win," Packer said.

"But from our point of view we know we need to be better, and we can be better."

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Still, they will take a lot of confidence out of Saturday, he said, adding that he feels it does give them a bit of a psychological advantage going in to the major semi.

"You always remember the game before especially when you're going back-to-back," he said.

"But we know Gunnedah will be very tough at home."

All the pressure was on Narrabri heading in. The Red Devils couldn't have been knocked out of top spot but a loss could have seen the Blue Boars drop back to third, or even finish fourth and miss out on hosting a final altogether.

Packer said they didn't put a lot of emphasis on the scenarios. He knew they had the belief and the form, it was just a matter of executing.

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"I said to the boys, two things: trust- trust yourself, your team-mates and the process, and ownership- take ownership of your position, and your errors and things that you do good," he said.

If they did those two things, he thought it would put them in good stead.

"And we did that," he added.

In a timely boost Jacob Nichols made his return after six weeks out with injury. His defence in the midfield was critical to limiting the impact of the Red Devils centres.

Another critical piece of the puzzle was nullifying the effect of the Red Devils lineout.

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