IT’S not often spectators cheer for a wet weather rugby game, but as the rain tumbled down in Walgett across the weekend, even the players were more interested in the number of millimetres falling rather than the number of points scored.
“Everybody was pretty excited, people were calling out to the farms to see how much had fallen there,” said Newton Ag in Walgett agronomist Neil Newton.
“We haven’t seen a wet weather game of footy for a while.”
For many in the area, the 30 millimetres was the best rain they had seen in almost two years.
Mr Newton said another 20mm to 30mm would help graziers in the region get some pasture growth, however, farmers would need a lot more to start thinking about a summer crop.
“It’s still not too late for a summer crop, but we’re starting with zero soil moisture.
“We’d need a big fall of 200mm,” he said.
Mr Newton said the best part of the rain across the weekend was how widespread it was, with most people he heard from getting about 30mm to 35mm.
Scott Wilson, “Maneroo”, Walgett, played in Saturday’s game and received 24mm at his family’s mixed farming property.
“It was a bit of a change playing a game in the rain, it was the first time in a while,” he said.
“People didn’t know what to do in the mud.”
At least the Walgett boys got a win on the field, beating Gulargambone by 31 to 14.