The only thing that can deny Dunedoo Swans the Castlereagh League premiership is themselves.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The competition leaders cemented themselves as the team to beat for the title as they overcame Coonabarabran 28-8 at Robertson Oval on Saturday.
Played in front of a good vocal home crowd, the Swans only let the Unicorns in for one try while they scored five themselves.
The 20-point win meant the Swans have all but wrapped up their first senior rugby league minor premiership as they hold a six point lead with three rounds remaining.
“It is a massive boost. That was the game that would tell us where we are at,” Swans’ captain-coach Tom Yeo said.
“Coona are a good side and they’re our nearest rivals.
“The only way we can’t win is if we lose it ourselves.”
Even if the Swans’ lose all their remaining three games and Coonabarabran win all of theirs, Dunedoo’s far superior for and against record could see them remain on top.
Yeo said the atmosphere in the town has been electric.
“It’s a big thing for everyone. Everyone is pretty stoked how well we have been going,” he said.
It was Dunedoo’s 11th consecutive win of the season and with home matches against Trangie and Gilgandra, and Coonamble away, they could finish the home-and-away season unbeaten.
“We want to win the minor premiership and we want to win the big one at the end too,” he said.
“But we haven’t really been speaking about it. We’ve got an end of season trip to Thailand booked and that’s what the boys have been talking about mostly at training.”
The Swans were too good for the visitors, turning a 16-8 half-time lead into a 28-8 win.
“It was a good game for us,” Yeo said.
“Pretty physical and spiteful, similar to the Warren game, but we stayed out of that.
“We defended really well, only letting them score one try. Our attack was all over the place but that could be because we had a few players coming back who haven’t played much footy lately.”
Ben Bruce, and the Large boys – Reece, Kurt and Josh – returned for the green and whites.
But it was the usual suspects of Chris Walkom, Mitch Squire, Ryan Marlin and Yeo who had outstanding games for the Swans.
“I thought Ryan Marlin was our best player out there,” Yeo said.
DUNEDOO SWANS 28 (Chris Jones, Tom Yeo, Chris Walkom, Mark Stanford, Ryan Marlin tries, Kerrin O’Malley 4 goals) def COONABARABRAN UNICORNS 8 (Anthony Harris try; Michael Watton 2 goals).