The Gunnedah Bulldogs and Werris Creek Magpies are ready for battle at Kitchener Park this Saturday, with the winner to contest the Moree Boars in the Group 4 rugby league grand final a week later.
Moree sealed a home grand final with a 30-26 win over the Bulldogs at the Moree-based Boughton Oval last Saturday, before Werris Creek defeated Boggabri 32-22 the following day.
Gunnedah missed the injured KC Edmonds as well as Ryley Mackay and Sam Taylor, with the latter two earning suspensions from the previous Saturday’s 31-10 win over Boggabri.
Mackay received a four-week ban while Taylor was outed for three weeks, with Taylor set to challenge the severity of his suspension in a bid to play this Saturday.
Moree jumped to a 14-0 lead before Gunnedah’s McKye Tucknott scored a converted try, and then the Boars scored their fourth try although poor goal-kicking restricted the margin to two converted tries at half-time.
Kaedyn Smith’s third try extended the gap to 18 points, before Max Turner scored for Gunnedah.
A penalty goal gave the Boars a 26-12 advantage, but Gunnedah came roaring back with tries to Aidan Davis and Dylan Lake to set up a thrilling final 10 minutes.
Moree’s Sam Sadler scored his second try, before Sunia Naruma kept Gunnedah’s flickering hopes alive with a try in the final five minutes.
The Boars held on, with anxiety turning to relief for the hosts while the visitors rued their wayward performance.
Bulldogs coach Sean Hayne cited the period between the 10th and 30th minute, saying “we were just poor fundamentally” while the Bulldogs “didn’t get off the line quick enough”.
“We let them get a roll-on, and they controlled the ruck speed,” he said.
“We didn’t compete like we should have.”
Hayne said the Bulldogs needed to turn up with the right attitude this Saturday, and “need to win every play”.
“We can’t give a team like Moree as much ball as we did, and expect to come out on top,” he said.
While a home grand final slipped from his team’s grasp, Hayne said the hunger was still there to reach the decider.
Hayne said “no-one plays to come second”, while it was a waste of the whole year if the team didn’t reach the grand final.
Hayne said the focus had to be on this Saturday’s fixture, not Moree, “because if we don’t win this weekend, we’re not going there”.
Earlier, Gunnedah’s U18s bowed out with a 26-22 loss to North Tamworth in extra time.
The Bulldogs teens scored five tries to four in regulation time but faltered in the goal-kicking department, before Norths scored the winning try.