THE boys in blue were out in force in different colours at Endeavour Oval yesterday at the annual NSW Police Country Cup rugby union carnival.

Six teams from around the state competed in the carnival, which is staged as a predominately social gathering for police officers around NSW.

Central Tablelands were the host team, while an Orange firefighters team also competed with the help of a few non-firefighters.

The Hunter, New England and Dubbo areas were also represented.

Each team played three games yesterday and Ku-rin-gai took out the carnival after beating Central Hunter 10-nil in the final.

Organiser and Coonabarabran Police duty officer, Stuart Thomas, says the event is a social day, but that doesn’t mean the players take it easy on each other.

“We are social but once we put on the boots and the liniment, we’re all competitive and they’ll be tough to crack and it’s generally who wears the most outlandish jumpers generally has the fun day,” Thomas said while wearing the Central Tablelands uniform, which featured splashes of purple and yellow.

The NSW Police Country Cup also acts as a charity fundraiser and this year’s proceeds will go to the Heart Foundation.