Kangaroos go on second-half rampage

A century of points unfolded in last Sunday’s Group 4 rugby league first grade fixture at Jubilee Oval, while the contest ended five minutes from full-time due to the ‘mercy rule’ being utilised.

The 80-20 win for the Boggabri Kangaroos over the Wee Waa Panthers was another example of the gulf between a top-five team and the last-placed team which has yet to win a game this season.

Defence often seemed non-existent as there were 18 tries in 75 minutes of play.

Boggabri moved to 11 competition points alongside North Tamworth and Gunnedah, behind the top-placed Werris Creek’s 15 points.

The Kangaroos, remarkably, held an unconvincing 30-20 lead in the latter stages of the first half, before taking a 14-point lead into half-time and then scoring 46 unanswered points in the second half.

The two teams vied for the JT Cup, named after Jeremy Toomey who passed away earlier this year after he had originated in Wee Waa and gone on to coach and manage the Kangaroos.

Boggabri scored the opening try in the first couple of minutes, before Wee Waa levelled at 6-all in the next few minutes.

The Kangaroos soon jumped to an 18-6 lead, and then the Panthers cut the margin to six points before the home side shot to a 30-12 lead.

Two unconverted tries to Wee Waa in the space of 10 minutes were followed by a try to Boggabri on the stroke of half-time, meaning 10 tries were scored in the opening 40 minutes.

The rate of scoring was similar in the slightly shortened second half which featured eight tries, although it was all one-way traffic.

Ilaisa Kalokalodrau and Josefa Goneduadua finished with four tries each for Boggabri, while Pita Rogosau nabbed three.

Boggabri coach Shane Rampling said the Kangaroos were “still searching for an 80-minute effort” and hadn’t put one of those together yet this year.

“We were pretty ordinary in the first half to be honest, but that’s not taking anything away from Wee Waa. They came at us,” he said.

“They’d had a good crack at Moree the week before, and we knew that we couldn’t be complacent, but I think mentally, we were just switched off in that first half.

“We thought it was going to be easy but they stung us a couple of times and put the wind up us.

“We addressed a fair few things at half-time, and I told the boys that the biggest thing I wanted to do in the second half was hold them to zero, which we achieved, so that was great.”

The reserve grade fixture also involved the ‘mercy rule’, albeit with 10 minutes remaining in the 70-minute contest.

The Kangaroos tallied 13 tries to two in their 70-10 triumph, with Robert Doolan touching down four times and Jarod Adams scoring three tries.

Boggabri joined Dungowan in third place on the points table, just one point behind the second-placed Werris Creek.

The leaguetag tussle involved two teams chasing their first win of the season, and Wee Waa broke its duck with a tight 18-16 victory.

Both sides scored four tries, while Wee Waa’s Ashley Hanslow kicked the only conversion.

All three Boggabri teams return to Jubilee Oval this Saturday.

They will contest Dungowan, which is much lower than the Kangaroos on the first grade ladder but similarly placed in reserve grade.