Still a few bodies short of being comfortable, it was the Gorillas old boys that helped see the Narromine host a successful day of rugby winning 3 from 4 at Cale Oval.
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Starting the day, the Gorillas Women's side stepped up their defence this week laying a solid platform against Wellington in their first win with a 62 - 10 final scoreline.
Some dominant tackling from Ella Meldrum and Jess Brown saw Wellington turning over the ball allowing Narromine to rule possession.
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Prop Megan Mrowka carried the ball strongly all day allowing half Jamielee Elwin to control the pace of the game and provide good service to the girls out wide. Alice Theberge, Beth Stace, Lana Walsh, and Shianne Klante showing great skill and pace scoring a bag of tries off the great work being done in the middle of the paddock.
Affected by numbers, and up against the competition heavy-weights in the Bathurst Bulldogs, the Gorillas Colts suffered there first defeat going down 41 - 15.
With key players missing, the 14 man team that took to the field fought all the way to the end but just did not have enough answers for the persistent Bathurst outfit.
Jacob Taylor had a massive day making meters where other couldn't, and stopping every Bulldog that crossed his path. Euan Truscott again played above his weight on the side of the scrum and earned Players-Player for his efforts.
A massive thank-you to Sam, Will, Oliver and Jock who filled positions on the day and had a positive impact in a losing side.
While most retired players were helping clean out the canteen, the likes of Charlie MacInnes, Robert Carter and Ryan Pratten, all finding it hard to stay retired, took the field to help out a 2nd grade side also scratching for numbers. Birthday boy Pratten having a great game helping to provide structure in the absence of captain Craig Duff.
Newlywed Braydon McManus led from the front all day and held a dominant Gorillas scrum together allowing the side to find scoring opportunities closing out the game at 37 points to 7. Special mention to Jack Madgwick who had a blinder also finding himself over the line for a five pointer.
Continuing their dream start to the season the Narromine first grade turned it on right from the first whistle with plenty of points coming from crisp back-line passing after some strong play in the middle of the field.
The boys in red pressured the Blayney set-piece stopping them from gaining too many metres, but managed to find plenty of their own with Luke Brown picking up from the base of the scrum and streaking into plenty of space.
Blayney tried to rally putting together several phases picking and driving toward the Gorillas line but the defence held strong and the home-side pushed out to a 35 point lead at half time.
The second half was a different game as the visiting side halted the Gorillas momentum turning over a lot of ball and frustrating their attack.
The Gorillas defence held strong though and more points did eventually come, although not as convincingly as they did in the opening half.
John Ellis had a massive game showing his strength in every contest and flanker Michael Harris was devastating in defence as usual. The boys are happy with the 47 to 0 win, but after an untidy 2nd half there is much to work on going forward.
Any interested players, especially Colts (U19), are urged to get in touch with the Club as there is plenty of game time on offer.
This week the Club is on the road to Bathurst to take on CSU.
We return to Cale Oval on May 11 for Ladies Day verse the Dubbo Rhinos.
