Veteran Narrabri winger in a familiar situation

He’s played in plenty of them over his time with the Blue Boars and a few grand finals as well

At one stage, the Blue Boars and Bulls seemed to hold a monopoly on the decider, helping build their rivalry into what it is today.

The Blue Boars will  have to beat Pirates on Saturday though to earn another crack at their old enemy and a shot at defending their crown.

It was their first for a decade and being a part of it spurred Vaughan  to pull on the boots again this season.

“I was brought out of retirement to play last season,” he said.

He’d had the odd run but hadn’t played a full season for a couple of years. 

“You do miss the camaraderie,” he said.

He is a bit of an elder statesman, particularly as far as the backs go.

The average age is about 23.

“There’s a lot of talent in the team,” he said.

“We’ve got a lot of young fellas coming through.”

The Blue Boars had to dig deep on Saturday, with the Bulls jumping out to a 21-3 lead.

“Today was tough,” Vaughan said.

“It was a lot in the forwards. We (wingers) didn’t see much ball.”

One thing they’ll be looking to, and will need to rectify against Pirates, is their start.

“The boys weren’t switched on, didn’t have that fire in the belly,” he said.

“Once we got rolling we put points on.”

The last 10-15 minutes in the first half they started to get into their work.

He said Henry Curtin’s try right on half-time gave them a big lift and, when he crossed for his second early in the second, they were “right back in it”.

They looked the better side for a lot of the second half and did feel on top, Vaughan said.

He thought they were going to get there.

But they couldn’t quite in the end, and so onto Pirates.

They’ve had their share of finals meetings in recent years, most recently in the grand final last year.

“We’re going to have to be switched on,” Vaughan said.

Pirates will present a bit of a different challenge, with their threats in other places to the Bulls.

Jake Douglas is their main man in the centres but they’ve got some pretty handy forwards too.

The Blue Boars seconds will also be chasing a grand final spot and will match up against the Bulls after the minor premiers were upset by Inverell last week.