Bryson Luff

The Coolah Kangaroos have claimed the 2025 Castlereagh League minor premiership with two competition rounds remaining after seeing off the Warren Bulldogs 36-12 in their Boronia Cup Challenge game at Coolah last Saturday.

The ‘Roos, who play their remaining two competition games at home against Coonamble (round 13) and Coonabarabran (round 14) can begin to make preparations to host the Major Semi Final that will be played at Bowen Oval on Saturday August 17.

Whilst the Coolah club has the first-grade minor premiership locked up their league tag side, the Coolah Flyers, who like the First Grade side remain undefeated thus far this year, just need to win one of their two remaining games for the Kangaroos to claim two minor premierships, which would be a remarkable achievement, given that the clubs trophy cabinet is already bulging with the 2024 Premiership Cup and Shield along with the Boronia and Jessica Skinner Challenge Cups.

Though Coolah has the minor premiership stitched up in First Grade, the composition and/or pecking order of the remaining four semi-final berths is still unknown.

The Narromine Jets have given themselves a shot at finishing second when they downed the Coonabarabran Unicorns 23-16 at Narromine last Saturday, with that win meaning that they now sit just one competition point below the Unicorns in third place, and if Coonabarabran loses to either Cobar this Saturday or Coolah in the final round and Narromine down both Warren and Cobar in their remaining matches then the red and whites will have secured the second rung on the ladder and the right to host the Qualifying Semi Final.

Mathematically Gulgong can also finish in second position if both Coonabarabran and Narromine lose both their remaining games after they defeated the Dunedoo Swans 28-12 at Dunedoo Last Saturday.

The Bull Terriers will be banking the competition points next weekend courtesy of having the bye before hosting Coonamble Bears in the final round.

The Bears sit on 24 competition points, equal with the Cobar Roosters but have two tough assignments coming up, playing both Coolah and Gulgong in away games.

Similarly, the Roosters face tough opposition, having to travel to Coonabarabran this Saturday before taking on the Narromine Jets at Tom Knight Oval in the final round.

The Bears registered a big win over the Baradine Magpies at Coonamble last Saturday the score being 64-12 and whilst the Magpies are not in semi-final contention, they can put a big dent in Dunedoo’s aspirations of a top five finish if they can down the Swans this coming Saturday at Baradine.

The Swans, who are two competition points below both Cobar and Coonamble, have the bye in the final round so a win for them against the Magpies is vital to if they are to have any hope of playing on after the competition rounds finish, and even with a victory they will still be relying on other results to go their way.

The match of the round this Saturday will be played at Coonabarabran with the Unicorns desperate for a win to hang on to second spot on the ladder and the Cobar Roosters just as equally desperate for victory to keep their semi-final hopes alive.