Playing on home turf, last weekend’s NSW Country Rugby Union Championships were always going to be massive for Western Plains.
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The hosts delivered too, on and off the field at Warren’s Victoria Park.
On the field, Western Plains produced a monumental effort to qualify for the second tier Richardson Shield final and although they went on to lose that decider to Central Coast, coach Rob Kennedy couldn’t have been prouder of his troops.
Off the field, everyone involved pitched in and the event ran like a well-oiled machine despite it being the region’s first time hosting. The atmosphere was electric, the crowd huge and after the final game NSW Country president Barry Ruddy went so far as to say this year’s country week was “one of the best ever”.
“It was just fantastic, everyone should be really proud,” Kennedy said.
“It was a great big crowd, everything off the field was great and it created a grand final atmosphere really. It was just great for the town.”
Western Plains opened its tournament against the North West Bushrangers, a hybrid team combining the Central North and New England regions, and prevailed 31-26 in a bruising encounter.
It was a topsy-turvy affair, the lead changing hands several times before the hosts pushed ahead with a try in the dying stages. The Bushrangers had another crack at the end, but were held up before the final whistle blew, sparking raucous celebrations from the Western Plains faithful.
That earned the hosts a spot in the decider against Central Coast, with promotion to the top tier Caldwell Cup on the line along with the Richardson Shield.
“That first win was bloody brilliant,” Kennedy said.
But even he admitted his side was outclassed in that decider.
Central Coast – which had beaten Far North Coast 31-21 in a thriller on day one – shot out to a 33-0 lead at half-time, eventually going on to win 47-19.
“We tried hard, we dug in. We knew Central Coast would be tough, they’ve been in the top flight before and we knew they didn’t want to be in the Richardson Shield much longer,” Kennedy said.
“They got away on us a bit in the first half but we went out and played some good rugby in the second half, we won that 19-14 which was a good, positive way to finish.”