Junior Rugby League: Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters juniors score four carnival wins in three weeks

And as much as the Roosters have rejoiced in the success of its under 7s and under 11s teams, there is also a sense of palpable relief from club president, Scott Hamer.

"At the start of the year, we were struggling to get rego numbers," Hamer said.

"A lot of clubs in Tamworth and in the region were struggling with numbers. It did feel, at the start of the year, that league was just not as popular as it has been for the past few years."

The first carnival win took place two weeks ago in Gunnedah, where the Roosters under 7s went undefeated to claim outright victory and the under 11s also won. That was followed by wins in their respective divisions at the Narrabri carnival over the weekend just gone.

Also read:

With the spectre of diminishing junior numbers looming over the club prior to the season, Hamer said the recent success of both teams gave him great hope for the future.

"For the future of Kooty minor league, we're sitting pretty," he said.

"We're comfortable at the moment with the recruitment we've done, the people we have in leadership roles, the coaches and the managers, they're the inspiration.

"But you can only inspire so much, and it's about what the kids can pick up and carry on for their teammates. That's what's making the difference."

But their victories did not necessarily come as a surprise. Both squads were stacked with talented players, and Hamer knew they had the potential to do well.

"The under 7s are a great, talented bunch of little kids," he said.

"There are a lot of skills in there, but I wasn't expecting them to clean sweep [the Gunnedah carnival]. But for the under 11s, I was quite surprised.

"They've got a great little established team, and a lot of them play league tag, representative tag, so they've really got a good base."

Hamer was sure not to overlook the impact of the coaches and managers on each of their sides.

Ash Sephton and Jason O'Hearn "put in a ton of work" to take care of the under 7s, Hamer said, while Matt Lillicrap and Luke Raveneau oversaw the under 11s.

"We've had heaps of people help," he said.

"I see the impact that these people have on the younger kids, they really are inspirational."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: