The John Boy Quinlan Memorial team has taken out the top honour at this year's Narwan Eels Knock-out, which was held on Saturday at Newling Oval.
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JBQ demolished the Newcastle All Blacks with a 32-nil defeat.
To top it off, David Quinlan was named 'player of the tournament' and Mark Walker received the 'player of the final' title.
Narwan president, Alan Widders, said the boys were hungry for the win after going down in the dying moments last year for a two-point loss in the final.
"They just had great energy all day, anyone watching would have seen that. And they just kept pumping that message, that they had to go one better," he said.
JBQ met Gomeroi Connections in their first match with a hard-fought 16-14 win.
Then they came up against a "pretty strong" side, Anaiwan Connections, with some big players from out west but they were no match for JBQ who ran away with the game 32-nil.
"That was a big effort from the boys," Widders said. "For them to score 60-odd points in the those two games (and) to not have a try scored against them."
Widders said it was a great day of footy and really put the New England and North West back on the map.
We haven't seen good quality footy like this for a while.
- Alan Widders, Narwan Eels president
"We haven't seen good quality footy like this for a while," he said.
The day included two exhibition matches between the Narwan and North Coast under 17s, of which the locals won both.
Narwan's Rari Widders was named 'player of the match'.
Twelve men's teams from places like Toomelah, Kempsey and the North Coast competed for the title with about 2000 league fans converging on Armidale for the event, providing a boost for local businesses.
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Widders thanked everyone who attended and supported the day, along with the Armidale Servies Club and One Connection Disability Service who helped make the event happen.
The focus now turns to the local Group 19 competition.
"Going off the weekend, and getting players from those different teams together in the same squad, the Eels could have a big year."
With a few new signings for the season, Widders said they would be working on getting the players to gel and getting a good start to the season.
"We go to Moree straight off the bat so we should know where we're at after that game," he said.
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