BLUE Bulls turned into Cockatoos, Wombats wowed, Kangaroos jumped in and Lions showed heart - it may sound like a fantastic zoo, but it's just the latest in Central West Rugby Union.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Once again there were upsets - none bigger than Coonabarabran winning the Oilsplus Cup preliminary final to see minor premiers Blayney go out in straight sets - while plenty of favourites asserted their dominance too.
It was wet, it was muddy and it was cold, but again there were still plenty of bright moments.
We take a look at the latest talking points in this week's Tuesday Tight Five.
Oxley's delighted as Blue Bulls turn into Country Cockatoos
IT was tough for Central West coach Dean Oxley to take when his Blue Bulls missed out on a Caldwell Cup treble earlier this year, but there has been a huge positive to come from that campaign too.
Eight members of the Central West side that went down 32-29 in extra-time against Central Coast in the Caldwell Cup decider have been named in the NSW Country Cockatoos squad.
Bathurst Bulldogs duo Joe Nash and Peter Fitzsimmons, Forbes pair Mahe Fangupo and Charlie French, Cowra's Damien Michael, plus Filisone Pauta (Dubbo Kangaroos), Josh Tremain (Orange City) and Dan Ryan (Parkes) all made the cut.
They will compete at the Australian Rugby Championships in Adelaide from September 28-October 4.
"It was unbelievable, that was probably our high water mark in terms of Country Cockatoos seniors," Oxley said.
"It's great to see some of the old stagers going well, Peter Fitz was really excited here from Bathurst.
"Nashy really had a goal in his career to play for the Cockatoos. He got player of the [Country Championships] tournament a couple of years ago then COVID stopped everything so he never got the jumper he was looking for, so I'm really happy for him.
"Damien Michael from Cowra, he was a late inclusion for the Central West side, an outstanding footballer and really brought into the program and everyone loved being around him.
"Everybody is excited about his future in the Central West, he's an outstanding fellow and even better footballer."
Injury and illness and work placements, oh my!
IN his 20 seasons with CSU Dave Conyers has seen the students have to deal with plenty of adversity, but the master coach reckons 2022 would rank as one of the toughest.
During its run in the New Holland Cup, not once did CSU have the same starting XV in consecutive weeks.
Players moved away from the region, COVID-19 and other illnesses at times depleted the squad, there were injuries and then there were the times students were away on work placement as part of their studies.
Even ahead of Sunday's minor semi-final at Parkes - a game where CSU was to have fielded its strongest line-up of the season - Conyers had to adjust to late withdrawals.
"Have I had a tougher season? I don't think so, we lost two players Sunday morning, both our wingers pulled out with illness so that was pretty disruptive," he said.
"All the combinations we practiced with those wingers during the week all fell apart because they couldn't turn up.
"All the adversity with injuries and illness and placements - it was really tough, but it was good to see them turn their year around by the back end of it."
CSU's season came to an end on Sunday with a 20-14 minor semi-final loss to Parkes. But given the students had suffered a 59-point loss to the Boars eight days earlier, it was a mighty effort.
"It really hurt to lose, the effort they put in, the commitment they put in at training. To turn around an 80-point flogging in eight days I thought was a massive effort," Conyers said.
A winless pride of Lions still have pride
FINISHING a season without a first XV win - it was tough to take for a club with a proud Blowes Cup history like Orange City.
After struggling to just one win and a draw from 15 rounds last season, the Lions had started 2022 full of optimism and confidence that better things would come.
But on Saturday as the Lions walked off Ashwood Park after their last match of the season, their record read zero wins from 15 games.
However, these Lions still have reason to feel pride.
What the ladder doesn't show is that the Lions tested minor premiers Cowra during the season, only going down 16-8 in round seven.
It doesn't show the Lions got within a try of finalists Dubbo Kangaroos in round one and twice got within a converted try of beating Forbes.
It also doesn't show the heart the Lions had in defence during Saturday's 26-0 loss to Bathurst Bulldogs.
Certainly captain Kieran Bonin was proud of how many phases of Bulldogs attack his men stopped.
"If you hadn't seen us play all year and you hadn't got told we hadn't won a game all season, you wouldn't have know because we've grown so much as a team," he said.
"I'm already thinking about what we're going to do in the pre-season, I'm excited. Next year is our 50th year, so we need to have that big off-season heading into the pre-season."
Can Mudgee Wombats deliver a fantastic four in 2022?
MAKING grand finals is one things, winning them is a different matter altogether, but it's a matter the Mudgee Wombats are hoping to finally nail in 2022.
In 2019 Mudgee made the second grade grand final but narrowly lost to Narromine.
In 2020 the Wombats hosted grand final day and had high hopes of claiming twin titles, but the first XV fell 21-18 to Parkes in the New Holland Cup decider and women went down 29-17 to CSU in the North Cup finale.
Last year the Wombats were set to have both their second grade and women's sides in action on grand final day, but COVID-19 meant the deciders did not go ahead.
While the second XV were declared premiers given they won the major semi-final, it wasn't the same as winning on grand final day.
This year the Wombats have already given themselves three shots at grand final glory and could very well earn a fourth.
On Saturday the Wombats first XV beat the Dubbo Rhinos 31-9 in the New Holland Cup major semi-final to secure not only a spot in the grand final, but hosting rights too.
That win came after second grade (15-14 against Dubbo Rhinos) and the women's (42-5 vs CSU) North Cup outfit had already won their respective major semi-finals.
Then there's the Wombats' colts who finished as minor premiers with an 11 from 12 record and this Saturday will play Dubbo Kangaroos in the grand final qualifier.
"It's been a fantastic year for the Wombats," Mudgee president Jeffrey Hands said.
"Moving to our new home at Glen Willow, securing four minor premierships, [and a] home grand final with three teams in is beyond what we could have imagined at the start of the year.
"Colts, under 14s and under 12s are playing this Saturday for a grand final spot too. Very exciting times."
Dubbo are lucky to make it, but don't write off the Roos
THE Dubbo Roos have narrowly made the Blowes Cup finals but how far can they go?
After a nail-biting 33-31 win over Forbes Platypi on Saturday, the Roos booked their spot in the minor semi-final against Orange Emus this coming Sunday.
With Will Michell set to return to a developing forward pack and almost a full-strength back line expected to take on Emus, the Roos cannot be counted out just yet.
Over the course of the season Dubbo has seemingly played its best rugby when under the most pressure, something which could come in handy during the finals series.
Nevertheless, after a few years without finals, the Roos will no doubt be looking to continue their rise to the top of the Blowes Cup ranks beginning this weekend.
The club's colts and Ferguson Cup sides both finished in the top two of their respective competitions, which points to a bright future for both the men's and women's games in Dubbo.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
- Bookmark www.westernadvocate.com.au
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News