Gunnedah Red Devils reps star with Central North

Five Gunnedah Red Devils first graders came desperately close to winning a title for Central North in last weekend’s NSW Country Championship at the Tamworth-based Scully Park.

Two wins for Central North were followed by a last-gasp two-point defeat as Red Devils skipper Tim McDermott captained the team, which also featured Red Devils players Adrian Burl, Will Chaffey, Ben Hamparsum and Gabriel Mahu’inga.

It was Central North’s first Caldwell Cup grand final appearance for 21 years, and ultimately the trophy went to reigning titleholder Central Coast.

In any case, McDermott said it was a fantastic weekend while the Central North players performed better than expected and probably better than they thought they could.

As it turned out, Central North came from behind to hit the lead in all three of its fixtures.

“We had only had one zoom call on the Monday and then a light training run on the Friday night,” McDermott said.

“The team gelled very quickly and I think that is why we made it so far.

“What we lacked in training and preparation we made up for in cohesion and positivity.”

Against a physically bigger Far North Coast team, Central North finished strongly and prevailed 27-13 after notching three tries to one.

In the second game against last year’s runner-up, Illawarra, the McDermott-led team trailed 12-0 at half-time but came back to win 19-12 with a try on full-time.

“This instilled a huge amount of belief within the team that no matter the deficit, we could come back and make a game of it,” McDermott said.

The defending titleholders scored a few tries against the run of play to establish a 19-0 half-time lead in the decider, with Central North making some small errors and Central Coast showing its class.

There was a huge shift after the half-time break, with some fresh legs and plenty of belief enabling Central North to stage an almighty comeback.

“After the first game when we came from behind comfortably, we knew that we would be fitter than most other teams and that the second half would be our strongest,” McDermott said afterwards.

“So it was just a matter of staying in the game until the other side tired.”

When Burl landed his fifth conversion from as many attempts in the decider, Central North grabbed a tantalising 35-34 lead with three minutes left.

Unfortunately for Central North, an ensuing penalty enabled Central Coast to kick a penalty goal for a two-point lead in the final two minutes.

Central North sought to steal a last-minute victory as the ball was shifted wide, but a knock-on ensued.

“I was so proud of how the boys went,” McDermott said.

“Just to be in a position to win, it was such an amazing effort but was obviously guttering to be so close.”

McDermott said it was “such an honour” to captain Central North for the second year.

“It was made much easier by all the lads being such fantastic blokes and having good rugby brains, so there was plenty of help out there,” he said.

“(I was) really happy with how we connected on and off the field.

“(There was) plenty of decision making over the two days which was definitely exhausting but such a great experience.”

McDermott complimented his Gunnedah teammates, with Burl being strong in attack and goal-kicking very well while having played every minute of every game.

McDermott said Chaffey “carried the ball well and was very strong in the scrum, scoring a few crucial penalties against the head during the final which shifted momentum in Central North’s favour in the second half”.

Central North’s skipper said Hamparsum played very well throughout the weekend and was very dynamic with the ball, and clinical at scrum time.

McDermott said Mahu’inga’s lineout throwing was on point, while he also carried the ball powerfully and was very mobile around the park.

Gunnedah’s representative players are ready to return to their club this Saturday, as the Red Devils first graders play at home for the first time in this year’s Central North competition after having a loss at Moree and a win at Narrabri.

The Red Devils will encounter Inverell which has had two narrow defeats.