The Boggabri Kangaroos invoked the ‘mercy rule’ for the third time in this year’s Group 4 rugby league first grade competition, as Boggabri belted the Kootingal-Moonbi Roosters 60-0 at Kootingal Sports Ground last Saturday.
The match finished 15 minutes early when the margin reached 60 points, with the visiting team scoring 12 unanswered tries.
Boggabri’s previous ‘mercy rule’ victories were against the bottom-placed and winless Wee Waa: 70-10 back in round one and 80-20 in round eight.
When the Kangaroos hosted the Roosters in round seven, Boggabri scored eight tries to one in a 48-6 thumping.
There were two 10-minute periods last Saturday when the Kangaroos failed to score, but otherwise the tries flowed thick and fast.
Josefa Gonduadua bagged three tries while Ilaisa Kalokalodrau, Tevita Peceli and Nick Millar nabbed two apiece.
Matthew Gillham, Matt Avendano and Ash White scored one try each while White was a little erratic with his goal-kicking, landing six from 11 attempts.
Gillham scored the opening four-pointer in the third minute, before Kalokalodrau touched down three minutes later.
Kalokalodrau’s second try was followed by Millar’s and Avendano’s four-pointers as Boggabri raced to a 24-0 lead in the 22nd minute.
Following a 10-minute drought, the Kangaroos posted three tries within nine minutes as Gonduadua, Peceli and White crossed the stripe.
Gonduadua scored the first two tries of the second half, and Millar touched down around the 60-minute mark before Peceli’s second try prompted full-time to be called.
On the same day, Werris Creek thrashed Dungowan 64-4 in another ‘mercy rule’ situation to all but end Boggabri’s hopes of sneaking into the top two on the ladder.
The Kangaroos are set to finish in third or fourth place and be in a sudden-death semi-final on the weekend of August 23-24, with the schedule to be determined after this weekend’s fixtures.
Boggabri sealed fourth spot on the reserve grade ladder with a 24-18 victory after scoring five tries to four, while the leaguetag game was one-sided as the first-placed Roosters prevailed 54-4 against the bottom-placed Kangaroos.
