It’s hard to imagine what it would be like to have all your major organs systematically shut down by a boa constrictor but, after Saturday’s New Holland Agriculture Cup major semi-final, you could do worse than ask the Parkes Boars.
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The mighty maroon and blacks were essentially suffocated out of the grand final qualifier by a calculated and dominant Narromine, the Gorillas earning grand final hosting rights with a 17-3 victory at Cale Oval.
The 14-point win was very Narromine-like, think Gorillas sides of the last decade.
A simply strapping scrum laid the platform for the victory – the Gorillas 16th straight of the 2018 season – while some superb goal-line defence and the tactical nous of halves – this season Jono Sharkey and newly crowned player of the year George Hancock – helped Narromine, step by step, skip away from a dogged Parkes outfit.
The Gorillas will now host the 2018 New Holland Agriculture Cup grand finals at Cale Oval on August 18, and could well have two sides in action should the club’s second grade progress past next week’s preliminary finals at Northparkes Oval.
“For a small town ... at the start of the season we didn’t think we’d be able to fill two grades but now we’ve got two competitive sides and an under 17s that’s undefeated,” Narromine skipper Tim Allworth said.
“It’s just our spirit, we all enjoy having a beer together and that shows out on the field.
“There’s nothing flash at all, particularly today. Nothing flowed.
“We just don’t give in. Kick, chase, pin them down there and try and play territory then hopefully we get an opportunity with the ball when we’re down there.”
Parkes dynamo Lloyd Rogers owned the opening scoring opportunity of the game.
In his side’s first venture into enemy territory, the Boars five-eighth slotted a penalty goal from 38 metres out to give the visitors first points after 14 minutes.
It’s a bit of a get out of jail free card, our scrum.
- Narromine skipper Tim Allworth.
Given the light feet of Rogers and the powerful midfield of Timoci Waqaisavau and Himah Alu, more points looked a given for the Boars.
But that penalty goal was as close as the visitors would get. In fact, it was as close as they were allowed to get.
After early errors stalled the hosts initial attempts at getting on the board, Narromine clicked into gear mid-way through the first stanza and, after keeping the ball tight for multiple phases in succession, a swift shift wide presented fullback Doug Potter with a clear run to the line to score the game’s opening try.
Ten minutes later ageless No.8 Luke Brown barged his way over off the back of another dominant loose-head scrum and Narromine looked well and truly in control, up 10-3 at the break.
Parkes, minus its NSW Country star Dan Ryan, started the second half full of running, but eventually ran out of gas and a try under the posts to Narromine five-eighth Hancock 12 minutes out from full-time was enough to put the Boars away.
Allworth praised his side’s scrum, a juggernaut throughout the entire 80 minutes, as the key to Narromine’s ability to sustain pressure on its opponents.
“It’s a bit of a get out of jail free card, our scrum,” he said.
“It’s always been dominant. We haven’t had a side that’s pushed us around and that makes it hard for any backline to get good ball.”
Parkes halfback Josh Miles battled to win his own feed on a number of occasions.
He said the key for any side up against Narromine in the grand final was, essentially, to avoid the set-piece.
“We played well, I thought, and when shit hit the fan we didn’t panic, but hopefully we’ll have a few less scrums next week and we can throw the ball around a bit,” Miles said.
“We look dangerous with the ball. We just have to do what we do well and don’t panic.
“We’ve got some great finishers out wide, but we have to earn the right to go wide. The forwards have got to get the job done and we’ll settle the score out wide.”
- NARROMINE GORILLAS 17 (Doug Potter, George Hancock, Luke Brown tries; Doug Potter conversion) def PARKES BOARS 3 (Lloyd Rogers pen goal).