It began in disaster for the North Tamworth Bears.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Their major semi-final against the Moree Boars was bound to be a brutal affair. Throughout 2023, the Boars had garnered a reputation for playing no-holds-barred football, and had reaped winning results for much of the season.
But after an upset loss to the Bears last weekend, Moree was out for revenge.
They came out hard and, in an unfortunate turn, Boars forward Aaron Robinson hit North Tamworth's Marika Kuriyalavou with a high tackle in the opening minutes of the game. The former was sent off early in his first game back from suspension, while an ambulance was called for the latter who suffered what Bears officials described as a "shattered" jaw.
Also read:
"[Kuriyalavou has] been pretty big for us," Bears coach, Paul Boyce, said.
"He's been on the wing for us, played in the centres, and he was going to play second row for us today. To lose him in the fashion that we did was disappointing."
It looked as though the Boars initially dealt better with the brief stoppage in play, scoring just minutes later through James Duncan.
From that point, however, it was effectively all North Tamworth. The Bears shut down the likes of Brenton Cochrane, Mick Watton, and Adrian Smith, who can all win games on their day.
"Our big focus was making sure we stopped them in the middle," Boyce said.
"If we slow their roll, it has a big effect on what Watton and Cochrane can do. I thought James Cooper and Dalton [Desmond-Walker] did a really good job for us in the middle, and then guys like Jake Vost and Brock Wadwell came on and provided a bit of spark."
Their 40-10 win at Moree's Boughton Oval put the Bears straight through to the grand final in two weeks, where they will vie for their eighth-straight premiership.
There was plenty of passion on display from both teams, as multiple scuffles broke out during the game, though thankfully none resulted in serious conflicts.
After the match, Boyce couldn't wipe the smile off his face, and said the team "never panicked" this season despite losing four of their first seven matches.
"It's massive," he said.
"These last couple of years has been a new side, and they keep rising to the occasion. We've got a very good culture out at North Tamworth, I'm pretty proud of them."
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:
- Bookmark northerndailyleader.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News