TEN tries to one said it all when Moree Boars first-grade delivered a 56-6 thumping to Boggabri Kangaroos under lights at Boughton Oval on Saturday night in round seven of the Group 4 rugby league competiton.

The big win came despite a number of Moree players sidelined through injury.

Moree winger Latrel Newman grounded the ball two minutes into the game – the first of two tries – and interchange Joe Wade earned man of the match honours with back-to-back tries five minutes apart early in the first half.

Captain-coach Jack Durheim also crossed twice, with halfback Steve McIntosh, centre Mark Pegus, winger Dereik Newman and fullback Bobby Smith planting four-pointers.

Smith’s boot was on fire, with eight conversions successful from 10 attempts, giving the Moree goal-kicker 20 of Moree’s 56 points.

“It was a good performance from us tonight,” Durheim said.

“We had a number of players out with injuries and Jock Brazel encountered injuries early in the game.”

Durheim said the squad oozed versatility – a key factor to the Boars unbeaten run this season.

“We are blessed in the fact we have great depth, and players that can play a number of positions,” he said.

“We played some great, exciting football tonight.

“Joe Wade came on and scored two quick tries, to earn himself man-of-the-match honours,” Durheim said.

Daniel Smith scores for Moree Boars second-grade at Boughton Oval on Saturday.

Unbeaten Moree Boars first-grade, the reigning Group 4 premiers, sit on top of the premiership ladder with 12 points, two clear of Gunnedah Bulldogs.

“We go to Gunnedah next week to play the Bulldogs and are really looking forward to that challenge,” Durheim said.

Meanwhile, after a slow start that saw the Kangaroos deep in Boars territory for much of the first half, Moree second-grade turned a 10-nil lead at half-time to a commanding 40-10 win with a strong, second-half resurgence.

The match remained scoreless well into the first half until Dylan Craigie-Duke put the first points on the board in the south-eastern corner.

Five minutes later, Daniel Smith score in the south-western corner, with an effortless conversion from Bill Hippi to give Moree a 10-nil lead at the break.

Charlie Shearer, who co-coaches second-grade with Alf Newman, said the first half was scrappy.

“It was a scrappy first half of football, and it took our side 25 minutes to put points on the board,” Shearer said.

But a quick chat at half-time turned things around in the second half, Shearer said.

“Half a rev-up made our boys think about what had to be done. We addressed it and flew home with flying colours,” Shearer said.

Second-half tries to second-rower Josh Girard (two), five-eighth Dwayne Smith and interchange Rhys Smith and another five conversions to Hippi put the game away for the Boars.

“If we had played the way we did in the second half for the whole game, it could’ve been a much bigger scoreline,” Shearer said.

“We can’t take anything away from Boggabri, though. They kept coming back at us with only 13 players.

“A man in the bin (Jake Tighe) only seven minutes into the game didn’t help. But we kept our own and our defence was pretty good, holding Boggabri out numerous times.

“Luke Hobday, having his 100th game, Bill Hippi, Josh Girard and the Smith twins were on point, and our debutant Liam McClure proved he may have a big future ahead,” Shearer said.