After a year in the wilderness, Gilgandra Panthers celebrated their return to the footy field with a win against Baradine Magpies in Round One of the 2026 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition.

Playing in front of a large and appreciative home crowd, a three-try performance by co-coach and centre, Tyler Bamblett, saw the Panthers come-away with a strong 40-10 victory over a black-and-white outfit that tried hard to the final whistle.

Bamblett’s direct hard-running in the centres left him with two tries in the bank before the half-time oranges and, along with a try to his coaching partner, second-rower David Smith, the Panthers held a hard fought 16-6 lead at the break.

The second half was punctuated by numerous injury stoppages as Gilgandra went on with the job – despite having a player sent off in the 17th minute in what was at times a feisty affair – to register an important win for the club.

At Narromine, the Jets may have considered themselves unlucky not to have come away with maximum competition points in their match against the reigning premiers, the Coolah Kangaroos, having outscored the visitors in the try-scoring department but ultimately having to settle for a 30-30 draw.

The Jets can take solace as the first side to claim a competition point from the Kangaroos in the past three seasons.

In the other games, there was plenty of try-scoring action happening elsewhere with no less than 13 tries scored at Dunedoo’s Robertson Oval when the Swans finally topped Coonamble Bears 42-36, whilst just down the road at Gulgong, spectators saw the Coonabarabran Unicorns register a 38-26 win over the Bull Terriers. In this match the visitors crossed for seven four-pointers which was two more than the Terriers could manage. The Unicorns would have been very confident, though, that they had the game in the bag at half-time by trooping to the sheds as 26-4 leaders.

However, the fighting spirit of the Terriers shone through in the second stanza, and they certainly were well in the contest when the scoreboard saw them trail by only 26-32 deep into the final 40. It is history now that Coonabarabran finished the scoring action for the afternoon with a converted try to come away with an important first-up victory.

In the final game played at Cobar, there were 11 tries scored but, unfortunately for the Warren Bulldogs, the Roosters scored eight of them for a 44-16 victory.

On the Ladies' League Tag scene, the Gilgandra Pink Panthers broke through for their first win in a number of seasons when they edged out Baradine; an improved Gulgong team just got over the Unicorns; the Coolah Kangaroos gave notice that they are out to defend their premiership with a solid win over Narromine Jets; whilst their grand final opponents from last year, Dunedoo Swannettes, ran rampant over Coonamble, as Cobar Roosterettes and Warren Bulldogs fought out a draw.

There will be a general bye this weekend for Anzac Day with Round Two of the competition to be played on Saturday, May 2.