CENTRAL North didn’t scoop any home NSW Country 15s and 16s Championship success at Scone on the weekend but did have several players flagged for higher honours.
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Quirindi’s Dougal O’Reilly, Inverell’s Ben Hamperson, Farrer’s Jacob Williams and Tamworth’s Sam Gray were named in the Country 16s squad while Tamworth’s Nathan Watts, Quirindi’s Jock Thompson and TAS’s Josh Jones made the 15s.
Watts and O’Reilly both played number eight for their respective sides, Hamperson in the second row for the 16s, Gray half-back and Williams the wing, while Jones packed down at breakaway and Thompson figured as a centre-utility back for the 15s.
The 16s had a good weekend, making the semi-finals where they went down to eventual champions Central Coast 14-nil.
They were then just edged out by Mid North Coast 17-12 to finish fourth overall, which was one up on last year, co-coach Murray Lang said.
“All in all it was a very successful carnival. We exceeded where we thought we’d get to,” Lang said.
They also beat Illawarra, who they haven’t for a while.
They defeated them in their second game on the Saturday to secure their spot in the semi-finals.
Things though didn’t quite go to plan for the 15s who, after starting the carnival with a 15-13 loss to Far North Coast, finished sixth.
The Kookaburras scored late and had the chance to draw but from the sideline, and in difficult conditions, the conversion was unsuccessful.
They then lost to Central West 21-5.
“That put us back into the play-off for fifth and sixth,” co-coach Sean Tufrey said.
“We won our first game on Sunday against Mid North Coast (19-nil).”
Illawarra then edged them out by a try.
“We started a hell of a lot better on the Sunday than the Saturday but by Sunday our carnival was over,” Tufrey said.
He said against Far North Coast they lacked a bit of aggression at the start but found it in the second half.
It was the opposite story against Central West.
“We thought we were in with a shot – it was 5-all at half-time,” he said.
“They just sort of lost their way, lost their aggression.”
He thought Jones, Watts and Thompson were their best for the weekend.
“It’s just hard when we are that far apart and we can’t get together,” he said.
Central West ended up lifting the silverware, defeating Central Coast 21-14 while Central Coast defeated Hunter 21-3 to claim the 16s title.
