After a disappointing couple of weeks on the field, Moree Weebolla Bulls have fought their way back to winning form with a big victory against Scone Brumbies on Saturday.
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The 62-17 win, which comes off the back of a loss to Walcha and a draw with Gunnedah, is just what the Bulls needed leading up to finals in a couple of weeks according to first grade co-coach Mick Grant.
“It was a good win after the last couple of weeks; it was a good, confidence-boosting win,” he said.
“We got to throw the ball around a bit and try a couple of things before coming into bigger games in the next couple of weeks.”
Despite a handy forward pack, Scone’s five-hour bus trip to Moree didn’t do the side any favours, as the Bulls took the opportunity to test out their game ahead of finals.
“We wanted to work on our second-half play,” Grant said.
“We seem to leak a few points in the second half against the better sides, so we worked on playing the full 80 minutes on Saturday.
“We had the opportunity to bring on a couple of fresh reserves which helped as well.”
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With errors and stop-starts dominating their last couple of games, Grant said Saturday’s match seemed to flow better for the Bulls.
“Our forwards played good phase football – in previous weeks we’ve had a lot of dropped balls and mistakes – and that set the platform for our backs to do what they have to do out wide,” he said.
Grant said Ben Williams and Jaime Sampson, both new recruits this year, have been playing “outstanding football” over the past few weeks.
“They’re consistently getting points every week; they’ve settled in well,” he said.
The Bulls now have a week off before taking on the Narrabri Blue Boars in the final round of the home and away competition.
Suffering a number of injuries at the moment, Grant said the bye has come at an opportune time.
“It will help get a few guys back on the paddock before finals,” he said.
“Our main focus now is that Narrabri game at home. It’ll be very difficult with so many injuries. As it is, we’re guaranteed a spot in the finals, so we don’t want to risk those guys between finals.
“There’s a number that haven’t played for a couple of weeks as is, so hopefully another week off for everyone can’t hurt.”
Narrabri are currently sitting in fourth place on the competition ladder after upsetting first-placed Pirates on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Moree’s second grade side also had a big win against Scone, defeating the visitors 47-15.
Second-grade are currently sitting on top of the ladder, after Narrabri were defeated by Pirates on Saturday.
“Our second grade guys are very strong,” Grant said.
“With Pirates beating Narrabri in second grade they’ll finish on top of the ladder, regardless of what happens over the next few weeks.
“If we can get our injured players back on the field that’s only going to make their game stronger.”