Bryson Luff

A second half blitz by the Cobar Roosters not only gave them a big win in the Christie and
Hood Castlereagh League major semi-final, but it also secured them entry into the 2026
grand final and the right to host the big day.

Playing in front of a sizeable crowd at Cobar’s Tom Knight Memorial Oval last Saturday in the major semi-final the first half effort of the Coonabarabran Unicorns was not entirely
mirrored on the scoreboard, because despite having the Roosters pinned down in their own
half for a large proportion of the first forty minutes, and seemingly being on top, the visitors went to the sheds trailing by two points, the score being 12-10 in favour of the Roosters.

The fact that the momentum at that point was with the Unicorns it mattered not to the Roosters who returned to the field full of running and within 14 minutes they had the visitors well and truly on the back foot after their centre, Tristan Everett had added three tries to the one that he had scored in the first half and the score had blown out to 28-10.

Now well in control the Roosters extended that lead to 42-10 with 10 minutes remaining.

To their credit the Unicorns never gave up and scored two tries to make the scoreboard look marginally more respectful at 42-20 but then the Roosters clicked back into gear and ran in two tries in the last three minutes to come away with a 54-20 win, much to the delight of their army of red, white and blue supporters.

The day was not one of total disappointment for the Coonabarabran club because their Youth League side secured a grand final berth with a convincing 40-6 win over Cobar in the first game of the day.

The opening 12 minutes of the League Tag game saw the Dunedoo Swannettes race in an incredible 4 tries for a 20-0 lead over the Coolah Flyers, and whilst the Flyers did stem the flow of points and outscore the Swannettes during the remainder of the game, the scoreboard damage done in those first 12 minutes was insurmountable and the Swannettes took the honours 24-12.

Turning to the minor semi finals played at Coolah on Sunday, and it was to be the Coolah Kangaroos who emerged as the winners from their first-grade battle against the Dunedoo Swans.

The game was what one might expect from a local derby being a tough and physical affair.

It also featured some sparkling attack and desperate defence from both sides as the action moved from one end to the other.

The ‘Roos looked as if they were going to take a handy 10 points to nil lead to the half time break, but a converted Dunedoo just before the intermission saw the scoreboard read 10 points to 6 after the first forty.

A Coolah error from the resumption of play was quickly converted to points and it was game on with the Swans in front 12-10.

However, that lead was very short lived with the Roos quickly responding with a converted try of their own.

A further Coolah try saw them in front by eight points, but the Swans were not going away, and they were well and truly back in the contest the score being 20-18 in favour of the home side.

Unfortunately for the green and whites that was as close as they were to get, and despite their best efforts the Kangaroos managed to go in for another two tries, one converted, then capped proceedings off with a field goal in the last minute to keep their hopes of a third premiership alive with a 31-18 win.

The earlier games saw the two wins to the Narromine Jets, with their Youth League just getting over the Gilgandra Panthers, the final score being 22-20 whilst their league tag side proved to be too strong for the Cobar Roosterettes winning 34-6.

The sudden death preliminary finals will be played at Coonabarabran this Saturday, featuring the Jets in both the Youth League and the League Tag, their opponents being the Cobar Roosters and the Coolah Flyers respectively.

The first-grade game will see the Coonabarabran Unicorns and the Coolah Kangaroos do
battle for the third time in four weeks.

The recent results between the two sides sets up a blockbuster contest, with Coolah winning in their final round game played at Mudgee 46 to 26, before the Unicorns returned serve with 20-18 win the following week in the qualifying final after what was a classic game of rugby league!