Sport
18 July, 2025
Proten Cup: Rams secure rare Minor Premiership double
Rams charging at right time
By TALLON SMITH
THE Barellan Rams’ men’s side secured their first ever Proten Community Cup Minor Premiership after a 60-0 mercy rule defeat of an undermanned Deniliquin side at Rankins Springs on Saturday.
Needing to win and leapfrog Ivanhoe on points differential to finish on top, the Rams were ruthless in their pursuit of the title, dominating the contest from start to finish.
Barellan Captain-Coach Noah Forbutt said the Rams are where they envisioned themselves after some tough conversations at the start of the year.
“We're sitting where we want to be,” he said.
“After the knockout, and how we went down to Narrandera, we said this isn't how our season's going to turn out.
“We've been pushing, we've had decent numbers at training, and just the morale around the club, the girls, they're high up at the moment as well, everyone's just enjoying it and it's good.”
As for who he is most concerned about facing going into the back end of the year, Forbutt said that all of the other three sides in the finals pose a threat in the evenly matched competition.
“All of us four are definitely capable of taking it out this year,” he said.
“We haven't beaten Ivanhoe in the regular season, so it'd be good to get one over them on the weekend and set our spot in the Grand Final.”
The rise of the Rams has been the story of the season, with the club rebounding from a wooden spoon two seasons ago to a first-placed finish this season.
Forbutt said that the key to the success has been keeping the tight-knit squad together, whilst adding key strike weapons such as former Hillston skipper and Waratahs reserves premiership coach Luke Farmer.
“[When] I started coaching three years ago, in my first year, we didn't go the greatest,” Forbutt said.
“We finished on the bottom of the ladder and then it only got better from there.
“All the boys have stuck around, we've added a couple to the squad and we've just been going higher and higher and, this year, I think it's gonna be our year.”
With the club’s women’s team also flying high at the top of the ladder, the Barellan faithful are beginning to dream of a rare double premiership, a feat only achieved by Narrandera in 2022.
With both sides in strong form, Forbutt said that the banter between the squads has been a source of great entertainment and light motivation throughout the season.
“They've been the benchmark since they came into the comp,” he said.
“They always give it to us at training and say who the better team is, so no, it's good to be up there on top as well and give a bit of stick back to them.
“Hopefully we can both go on with it.”
Finally, as for whether being a player-coach makes things more difficult, Forbutt said it definitely brings with it some challenges.
“There's always gonna be a disadvantage when you're a player coach, you don't see everything from the sideline and it's always harder to use the bench the way you want.”
The Rams’ regular season success complements the success of their women’s side, who also won the Minor Premiership, with the Barellan club only the second side after Goolgowi in 2021 to finish on top of the ladder in both competitions.
Looking to other games, Ivanhoe ensured they would also secure hosting rights to a final, finishing second courtesy of a 26-10 win over Hillston.
The win came despite a Roosters player being sent from the field at half time, but that did little to hamper the Roosters as they defeated a gallant Bluebirds side, with the highlight of the match being a 40 metre dash to the tryline from Ivanhoe forward Shaun Aylett.
Meanwhile, in the final game of the day, the local side Rankins Springs fell to Narrandera 42-22 after a good old fashioned ambush from the Lizards.
However, on Thursday the result was reversed after it was found Narrandera fielded an ineligible player.
The decision has had little impact on the overall season, with the two sides to play again this weekend in the Minor Semi Final.
Finals week 1 action this weekend at Barellan will start with see last year’s Grand Finalists facing off for the second consecutive week, before the home side takes on Ivanhoe in the Major Semi.
Moving to the women’s competition, the Ivanhoe Hens started slowly but ultimately proved too strong for Hillston, running out 18-4 winners.
The Bluebirds opened the scoring through Mel Nielsen, but it was the Hens who dominated from there to secure a 14-point victory.
Barellan had already secured the Minor Premiership heading into their clash with Rankins Springs, and they continued their winning ways with a 30-0 victory.
Down 18-0 at half time, the Dragonettes fought hard in the second stanza, but a couple of late tries saw the margin extend to 30 in the final minutes.
The first week of finals action will see Rankins Springs face Hillston in the Minor Semi, before Barellan and Ivanhoe play for a Grand Final spot in the Major Semi.
Read More: West Wyalong
