THE BOARS beat the Boars in Moree on Sunday as the home team, Moree, came away with the Group 19 premiership goods against visiting Goondiwindi in a 26-24 win at Broughton Oval that had everything.
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It was also a game of two halves, with the lead changing hands until the final minutes, a sin bin, a send-off, and two brothers going head to head.
The Rodilossi boys, Adam and Aaron, both starred at lock for their respective sides, which had both joined Group 19 this season.
A tight first half saw Goondiwindi’s Boars with all the ball and camped in the home team’s half while Moree produced its best defensive effort of the season to lead 6-nil at halftime.
A John Burey try and a penalty goal were the only glitches in an otherwise near perfect defensive effort according to Moree coach Wayne Hetherington.
“We were starved of possession in that first half and probably only had 10 percent,” Hetherington said.
“Our defence in that half won us the game though.
“We knew if we could get 50 percent of the ball in the second we could win.”
And that is exactly what they did.
Turning the tables, Moree starved Goondi of ball in the second half.
Hooker Stan Swan turned the game on its head with two darting tries from dummy half after the break to take the lead 12-6.
A send-off and a sin bin at the start of the second half did not help the visitors’ cause as Moree marched forward with the weight of possession.
Goondi president Peter Rice said that they had virtually no ball for the first 20 minutes of the second half and that cost them the game.
Goondi finally got the ball back and, when Aaron Rodilossi went straight over the top of the Moree defence for the second tryin five minutes, the visitors were back in front 18-12 with 20 to go.
Greater Northern rep Ben Williams scored a try for the home side before the other brother hit back.
Adam Rodilossi crossed to put Moree back in front, although Goondi hit straight back with a try to lead by two points with ten to go.
Group 19 rep Joe Henderson then sealed the win for Moree, crossing in the corner in the shadows of fulltime to snatch the victory.
“It was a great win and a great game to watch,” Hetherington said.
The coach also kept his number one rule for the season intact and remained undefeated at home after four rounds.
Adam Rodilossi took the ref’s points, with Jade Kennedy impressing the coach at centre after a full game of reserves.
The Moree Boars will try to keep their home record intact again next week when they host the Hawks while Goondiwindi hosts Glen Innes.