Group 4: Moree Boars defeat Kootingal Roosters in stunning fashion

That self-belief, particularly when bolstered by a 90-metre try from fullback Adrian Smith, led the visitors to a stunning come-from-behind win, 30-22, this afternoon at Kootingal Recreation Reserve.

"That was just gutsy as hell," Moree captain-coach, Mick Watton, told ACM after the game.

"I gave them a big rap at the end there. [Kootingal] were coming off three or four wins and knocked off Dungowan last week. We're hunted at the moment because we're on top.

"It would've been easy to come here and not do the job, but our fellas showed up."

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Indeed, Kootingal had won four out of their last five games prior to today, including a four-point victory over the second-ranked Cowboys last weekend.

Without the likes of Daniel Jobson and Brenton Cochrane, the Boars were below full strength, and started slowly despite opening the scoring.

At the end of the first half, the score was 16-12 in favour of the Roosters, who looked to have all the momentum on their side.

After another early try to start the second half, Kootingal looked untouchable.

But the Boars stuck true to Watton's halftime advice, wherein he urged his players "not to panic".

"We just wanted to make sure we didn't panic," he said.

"We were trying to solve problems by ourselves instead of doing our job as a team. Once we started to knuckle down, and our first contact was improving, we played off the back of [Smith's] long-ranger with a bit more structure."

At fullback, Smith has been fully able to utilise his incredible footspeed this season, and nowhere has that been on better display than against Kootingal today when he plucked the ball off the ground and took off for a near field-length try midway through the second half.

That effort, Watton said, "for sure" kicked Moree into an extra gear that few other teams possess.

"For him to ice that like he normally does, it breeds a bit of energy into us," he said.

"It's exactly what we needed, because after that we had another set down the right edge and scored two tries in four minutes."

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