Group 4: Moree Boars defeat Dungowan Cowboys in brutal match

Moree's dramatic one-point win at the Dungowan Showground, 26-25, was punctuated by concussive tackles, occasional melees, four sin-bins, and one player being knocked out cold.

"Every time you come here, they've got a good bunch of kids, good bunch of older fellas, and they're ready to play footy," Boars captain-coach, Mick Watton, said.

"We expected nothing less [than a physically tough game]."

More impressive than the win was the comeback mounted by the visitors. After scoring early, the Boars could only watch as Mitch Doring scored one and set up two more tries in the first half, which put Dungowan ahead 19-4 at the break.

In the second half, Watton said, they "got back to how we like to play".

"Once we did, we started to create opportunities," he said.

"We were woeful in that first half, to be fair, and deserved to be on the end of that scoreline. But once we tidied a couple of things up, we got a bit more ball and a bit more enjoyment out of that play."

Three tries in 10 minutes started the second half for Moree, which put them in the lead. Although Dungowan fought back, and nearly stole the win with a desperate effort from Doring in the dying minutes, the hosts couldn't get back in front.

"We were a bit unlucky in a few parts there," Cowboys captain, Cody Byrne, said.

"We played a tough game, I think our first half was pretty solid. The second half, we came out and we were a bit asleep. But it was pretty hard, that game."

With regular captain-coach, Brett Jarrett, out due to illness, Byrne led Dungowan today and lost men early in the game. Jack Cameron was sin-binned in the first ten minutes, along with Moree's Daniel Jobson, after the pair got into an altercation on-field.

Additionally, Cowboys fullback Blair Maloney's day was ended in the opening minutes with a suspected broken collarbone, and Lachlan Bonnell was knocked out cold by a tackle midway through the first half.

In short, the game was just as brutal, if not more so, than most Group 4 fans had expected.

Both sides gave as good as they got, and Jobson in particular became a target of the crowd's ire after his initial sin-binning.

"He plays aggressively every week," Watton said of Jobson.

"We don't want to [rein] in that aggression because that's the way he plays. He takes it forward and he's the alpha of our pack."

The physical nature of the game did not surprise Byrne, who said Dungowan "gave it back to them".

"We expected [a physically tough game] against them," he added.

The win solidified Moree's grasp on the top spot on the ladder, which thoroughly pleased Watton.

"I'm over the moon," he said.

"It was a long, rigorous preaseason. We worked really hard on our systems, our defensive structures ... it's nice to be where we're at, but we've got a lot of work left to do."

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