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The round robin trials held between Grenfell, Canowindra and Wagga Ag proved a very successful day for the local teams.
The girls kicked off the afternoon with the Pinkies taking on Wagga Ag.
New recruit Hannah R crossed the line in the first 30 seconds of the match, setting the tone for the rest of the game.
Faith S scored a try 4 minutes later and an Amber T conversion saw the Pinkies leading 12 nil.
Another try to Hannah R, another conversion to Amber T and the girls in pink were leading 19 nil.
Wagga finally got on the board just before half time with an unconverted try.
This try must have energised the green and golds and they were first to score in the 2nd half, taking the score to 19-12.
That was the end of their joy.
Two more Hannah R tries and an Amber T conversion gave the Pinkies a 31-12 win.
Captain Gabby suffered a boot to the face, and we wish her a speedy recovery for a suspected broken nose.
Thanks to Brad for filling in as referee.
An offer of a pie and a coke as payment was quickly rejected for an upstairs beverage instead.
The men’s games were played in two 15 minute halves.
Grenfell took on Canowindra in the first game and Matty opened the scoring for Grenfell with a try.
Will converted and we were up 7 nil. New recruit Shannon then scored for the Panthers.
Will converted and the half time score was 14 nil.
Shannon became the victim of a particularly heavy hit, the kind that makes the crowd groan.
He came out relatively unscathed, just having bitten his tongue.
A memorable day for Shannon – big hit, first home game, first try and no nudie run.
The 2nd half was entertaining, but no points were scored and the men in black won 14 nil.
Canowindra then doubled up to take on Wagga. The Grenfell crowd appeared to favour the Canowindra team, probably because they are more local than Wagga, and Canowindra won the game.
They played well all day, and it will be interesting to see how they fare in the main competition.
Wagga then had the dubious honour of backing up against Grenfell. Jim H opened the scoring for Grenfell with an unconverted try.
Will was next to score, Rhys converted and Grenfell was up 12 nil.
Xavier then crossed the line, Rhys converted again and the half time score was 19-0.
It took another 6 minutes before another score was posted, and this time it was Ray who crossed the line.
Rhys hit the mark again and it was 26-0. With 5 minutes to go Rhys scored a try and the Panthers were leading 31 nil.
By this time the Panthers were all smiles, and some changes were made from the bench.
Wagga put on a final assault to stop Grenfell from recording a nil score against them for the day but it was to no avail.
When the final whistle blew, the Panthers had scored 45 points in an hour of football against 2 different teams and conceded none.
The Grenfell Club recorded a win from each of it’s three games, definitely a positive sign for the upcoming season.
Thanks to all the supporters who came to watch the Panthers, Also thanks to our referees – Brad (surprise here is your whistle), Jayden who refereed the first two men’s games and Campbell from Canowindra for the last game.
It’s great to see some young blood willing to take on refereeing.
Also, a special mention to the Wagga first aid lady. She looked after every injury regardless of who you played for. That is what rugby is all about.
Our first competition game for 2026 is a night home game against Young on 10 April.
The Pinkies kick off at 6.30pm followed by the men. This local clash is always a great contest so come down to enjoy the rugby and make use of the full bar and canteen facilities.
