Moree hosted Clontarf Academies from all over northern NSW and southern Queensland, including Tamworth, Inverell, Quirindi, Goondiwindi, Dalby, Dubbo, Toowoomba, Kingaroy, Murgon, and Warwick for a full day of nines action at Burt Jovanovich Oval.

The day kicked off with an official opening at 8.30am, followed by a group warm-up session before the first games got underway at 9.30am.

The nine-a-side carnival was played in four pools of three, with each team playing at least five games.

Each game was 20 minutes, with nine-minute halves.

Oxley Clontarf Academy operations officer Jake Morris said it was a great day.

“It was terrific, it was very well run. Moree were very accommodating,” he said.

Oxley, who went undefeated throughout the carnival, ended up sharing the day’s top honours with Dalby, drawing in the first division grand final.

Morris said it was a great effort considering they were short on numbers.

“The competition was strong, it was fast and it was a very warm day, so our boys had to dig deep,” he said.

“We went with a limited squad, so everyone had to play big. We took 10 [players] but we had one bloke go down in the first half of the first game. A few teams helped us out throughout the day though.”

The Border Challenge, which is to become an annual event, was the first hit-up for the Oxley seniors and a good warm-up for the upcoming senior Clontarf carnival in Sydney.

“This was a good prelude for the senior carnival in Sydney in a couple of weeks,” Morris said.

Morris said they’re now “super confident” about their chances in Sydney.

“We’re looking to go there and win the carnival in Sydney; we’ll give it a red-hot crack,” he said. 

“We won last year’s under 15s Ross Kelly Cup in Sydney.”

Morris said the Moree carnival was also a great opportunity for the boys to practice their ‘Clontarf spirit’.