“The No.8 is coming off for the red team and he’ll be replaced by the No.8.”

Yep, you heard right.

The commentator at the Ben Mitchell tribute day in Cudal made no mistake on Saturday as 60 Cudal old boys, all wearing Mitchell’s No.8, played an entertaining game for their fallen friend.

The day was held to remember Ben Mitchell, who was killed in a farming accident near Cudal last year.

His friends and former Cudal Rugby Club teammates joined forces to put on the day which attracted around 1000 spectators.

Mitchell’s mother, Beth Mitchell, was blown away by the support shown.

“Totally, totally overwhelmed. Ben’s mates have put it together and it’s just wonderful,” Mrs Mitchell said, as she looked around at the players and supporters.

“We couldn’t envisage this. They’ve just done a fantastic job.”

Mrs Mitchell said her son would have appreciated the day but thought it unnecessary.

“He’d be thinking, what are you doing this for?” she smiled.

The tribute match, played between a red team and a green team, was entertaining but not what some of the participants expected.

“It was a bit more serious that we thought it would be. It was a really great game,” one of the organisers and players Lee Cornish said.

The match was played in three 20-minute periods and the red team came away with a 10-5 victory.

Cornish was part of a group of around eight men who organised the day.

He described Mitchell as “the toughest No.8 going around”.

The event started with an under 7s Walla rugby match between Cudal and Canowindra.

It was followed by the old boys tribute match and it finished with the GrainCorp Cup clash between Canowindra and Molong.

“It’s been awesome. I’m so glad everyone has come together,” Cornish said.

“It’s a huge effort from everyone involved. It’s wonderful for the community to come together and remember Ben.”