Narrandera seeing double after Lizards crawl to community cup championships

By Tallon Smith

Narrandera has emphatically announced they are a powerhouse of local rugby league once more after completing the ProTen Community Cup double by taking out both the Men’s and Women’s 9s titles on Saturday in Barellan.

The Lizards, who just five years ago were thirteen years deep into recess, took out a thrilling contest 20-14 over Ivanhoe in the Men’s finale to emulate the feats of their Women’s side earlier in the day, who trounced Goolgowi 16-0 to take out the title.

The highly anticipated Men’s clash began with bruising hits and plenty of niggle, before a break made by Ivanhoe skipper Kodie Charles led to a spread ending with a Mark Huntly try on the following play.

Narrandera benefitted from a couple of penalties, but were unable to capitalise upon them, with errors creeping into their play early. Winger Brody Williams saved a 40/20 attempt from Ivanhoe’s Victor Ward, before the calming influence of captain Kye Longford helped Narrandera to settle and post their first points through a try to Bodean Tereva.

Ill-feeling began to rear its head as a number of heavy tackles led to some push and shove, but neither team were able to stamp their authority on the period before the break.

A penalty goal to Roosters halfback Victor Ward broke the deadlock with a penalty goal from 20 metres out to send Ivanhoe into the break-up 8-6.

Upon the resumption of play, a Narrandera blitz began, with the first try to Brody Williams followed by another just three minutes later to Jack Simpson.

Both tries went unconverted, which saw Narrandera suddenly jump out to a lead of 14-6. Narrandera’s energy was beginning to blow Ivanhoe off the park, but some desperate defence and an intercept to Roosters winger James Rogers that snuffed out a massive chance for Narrandera kept Ivanhoe in the game.

Ivanhoe hooker Jay Little made the most of the opportunity, with a dash from dummy half leading to a great barge-over try. The try was converted by Victor Ward and at this point the game seemed destined for extra time.

However, a delicate grubber was dabbled through and a grounding from Narrandera second rower Malik Afuamua-Lyons sent the Narrandera section of the crowd of over 1500 people into absolute raptures, and the conversion from Kane Simpson put Narrandera in a commanding position with ten minutes to play.

Ivanhoe were gallant, and had three key chances, including one where they came within inches of a try under the posts, but ultimately, they could not break the green and gold wall of the Lizards.

The final siren triggered the start of a pitch invasion that exorcised the demons of the Narrandera club over the last two decades and broke a 23-year First Grade Premiership drought, which spanned back to their 1999 triumph over Griffith Waratahs in Group 20.

Speaking after the match, Narrandera coach Kye Longford said the Premiership “means the world to Narrandera.”

“When you drive down the street, the signs and that throughout, the AFL club getting behind us…it [shows] community spirit [that] they got behind us,” he said, speaking of the support the club received during the week.

“Not only our players, [but] our supporters, our committee…they’re a lot of hard-working individuals, and we couldn’t do it without them.”

Longford was “ecstatic” with the result, which saw the club recover from a tough 2021 season.

“Both our girls and boys were wooden spooners last year, to go from wooden spooners to premiers in 12 months, it sort of says a lot,” he said.

The weight of the achievement was not lost on the Narrandera skipper, and he couldn’t have been more grateful for the contribution of the committee and volunteers, as well as his rivals on the day.

“It was one of the best crowds I’ve seen in a long time…[it] just shows you the strength of the ProTen Cup,” he said.

“I can’t say how much I admire and just respect what they’re doing out there and what Kodie’s got happening out there,” he added, speaking of the Roosters. “Hats off to the committee, hats off to Ivanhoe.”

Narrandera President and player Shaun Lyons echoed the sentiments of his skipper, saying he was “over the moon” after the “overwhelming” Premiership victories.

“Rugby league in Narrandera is going through the roof, and after today, I think it’s going to get even bigger,” he said, speaking of the resurgence of the club, particularly in its junior ranks.

“When I [was president] we had 43 kids sign up, and now we have over 160 kids…[we’re] the second biggest club [in local junior football].”

Match-winning try scorer Malik Afuamua-Lyons said it meant “everything to him” to be a part of the Lizards' drought-breaking title.

“I get to bring a premiership home to Narrandera, and I love my people,” he exclaimed.

On the other hand, Ivanhoe Coach Kodie Charles was disappointed with the loss, but still both proud of his side’s Grand Final appearance and quick to congratulate his opponents.

“It’s a hard one to swallow mate, we worked pretty hard all year to get where we are… [it came down to] the bounce of the ball,” he said. “They [came] out in the second half on fire, got them two quick tries… [then we] tried to play that catch-up [football].”

However, Charles was largely optimistic about the season, even after such an emotional loss, saying the Grand Final appearance was “massive” for the community.

“It’s good for the town, it’s good for everyone,” he said of the success of the club in the last few years.

Halfback Peter Boon added to Charles' comments, saying that “everyone put up their hand this season” in an effort that saw the club make only its third Grand Final.

“[Football allows the community to be] really closely connected with each other…every weekend’s been great,” he said.

The ProTen Community Cup’s support base is growing year on year, and this was extremely evident on Saturday. Competition President and Barellan Secretary Jimmy McDermott said that the competition has “really brought people together from other towns in mateship.”

“[It’s the] Biggest crowd I’ve seen at any Barellan game or competition game really so far…we’re guessing about 1500 people through the gate,” he proudly stated.

“It was just great to have such a good game of footy for the Grand Final.”

In the Women’s game, a strong start saw Narrandera jump out to a 10-0 lead at the half-time break.

Although a well-supported Goolgowi side threw everything they had at Narrandera, the Lady Lizards’ defence held firm.

They took the title home to the tune of 16 points to nil.

The title was the Lizards’ first women’s premiership in their history.

ProTen Cup 2022 premiers - Narrandera Lizards. Image: NSWRL