Draft:Rugby league in the Riverina

Draft article not currently submitted for review.

This is a draft Articles for creation (AfC) submission. It is not currently pending review. While there are no deadlines, abandoned drafts may be deleted after six months. To edit the draft click on the "Edit" tab at the top of the window.

To be accepted, a draft should:

Show the subject qualifies for a Wikipedia article by using multiple sources that meet four criteria. The sources should be (1) reliable (2) secondary (3) independent of the subject (4) talk about the subject in some depth. For some topics, there are alternative criteria.
Be written from a neutral point of view
Respect copyright and do not plagiarize. Do not copy-paste.

It is strongly discouraged to write about yourself, your business or employer. If you do so, you must declare it.

Where to get help

If you need help editing or submitting your draft, please ask us a question at the AfC Help Desk or get live help from experienced editors. These venues are only for help with editing and the submission process, not to get reviews.
If you need feedback on your draft, or if the review is taking a lot of time, you can try asking for help on the talk page of a relevant WikiProject. Some WikiProjects are more active than others so a speedy reply is not guaranteed.

How to improve a draft

Wikipedia:Contributing to Wikipedia – a basic overview on how to edit Wikipedia.
Help:Wikitext – how to use the markup
Help:Referencing for beginners – how to include references
Wikipedia:Article development – how to develop your article
Wikipedia:Writing better articles – how to improve your article
Wikipedia:Verifiability – make sure your article includes reliable third-party sources

You can also browse Wikipedia:Featured articles and Wikipedia:Good articles to find examples of Wikipedia's best writing on topics similar to your proposed article.

Improving your odds of a speedy review

To improve your odds of a faster review, tag your draft with relevant WikiProject tags using the button below. This will let reviewers know a new draft has been submitted in their area of interest. For instance, if you wrote about a female astronomer, you would want to add the Biography, Astronomy, and Women scientists tags.

Add tags to your draft

Editor resources

Easy tools: Citation bot (help) | Advanced: Fix bare URLs

Last edited by Bearcat (talk | contribs) 3 months ago. (Update)

Submit the draft for review!

In the Riverina, rugby league is the equal most popular football code (with Australian rules football) and has a long history since the establishment of the West Wyalong Mallee Men in 1911.

The region is considered to form part of the Barassi Line which divides areas where Australian rules and rugby are popular, and thus, both codes are popular. There are many clubs and leagues in the district, including the Group 9 Rugby League, Group 17 Rugby League and Group 20 Rugby League competitions. In addition, many clubs in the region play in other neighbouring competitions, including the Canberra Rugby League, George Tooke Shield and Goulburn Murray Rugby League competitions.

History

Organized rugby league in the Riverina began in West Wyalong in 1911, after the game rapidly spread to the area's goldfields from Sydney. The current club is a continuation of the body that was formed to govern the game in the region at this early stage.^[1] The Group 9 Rugby League competition was formed at a meeting at the Grand Hotel, Harden, following a four-hour meeting on 26 April 1923, which finished at 12:20 am the following morning. The foundation clubs were Harden, Murrumburrah, Binalong, Young, Wambanumba, Monteagle, Bendick Murrell, Cootamundra, Junee, Wagga Wagga, Gundagai, Tumut, Adelong, West Wyalong, Barmedman, Griffith, Temora, Leeton, Ariah Park and Mildil.^[2]

Competition in the early years of Group 9 consisted of various challenge type matches, and it was not until 1933 that regular inter-club competition commenced.

Group 20 was established in 1954, as the Wagga Wagga district competition, and many of the city's clubs left Group 9 and Group 13 to join the new league.

Griffith teams, and others based in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, which previously played in both Group 17 and Group 9 prior to various rezonings and redistributions, also joined the new competition.

Early Group 20 seasons included the Griffith, Wagga Kangaroos, Wagga Magpies, Leeton, Narrandera, Yanco, Wamoon, Yenda, Batlow, Tumbarumba, Barellan and Turvey Park clubs.

1960s Murrumbidgee Rugby League schism

In 1966, four Group 20 clubs and a number of Group 9 clubs broke away from their competitions to form the rebel Murrumbidgee Rugby League broke away from the Country Rugby League, leading to four years of reshuffled boundaries from 1967 to 1970. The Murrumbidgee Rugby League was renamed to Riverina Zone 3 in 1969-70.^[3]

Given that a large number of the Group 9 clubs (including Cootamundra, Gundagai, Junee, Tumut) joined the five clubs who broke away from Group 20 to form the new competition (Batlow, Tumbarumba, Turvey Park, Wagga Magpies and Wagga Kangaroos), Group 9 was severely weakened. Therefore, the remaining Group 9 clubs were divided up and put into neighbouring competitions.

Therefore, without a viable competition to play in, the remaining Group 9 clubs were divided up and put into neighbouring competitions. Barmedman, Temora and West Wyalong joined the Group 20 during this period, leading to the 9/20 name, while Harden, Young and Wyangala Dam joined Group 8. To honour the additions of the clubs, the competitions were renamed to Group 9/20, Group 8/9 respectively.

The dispute was settled in 1971, with Barmedman and West Wyalong deciding to stay in Group 20, whilst Temora returned to Group 9. Barmedman moved to the Group 9 Second Division after the 1972 season. Young and Harden returned from Group 8, while Wyangala Dam folded.

Collapse of Group 13 and Group 17

In 1991, the Group 13 Rugby League competition collapsed, leaving its six clubs without a competition to play in for the 1992 season. Four of the competition's sides joined Group 9, with the Albury Blues (renamed Greater Southern Rams upon entry due to Tumut already being the Blues), Wagga Brothers, Tumbarumba, and a merged outfit from Batlow and recently defunct Group 13 side Adelong, joining the competition. The Albury Roos joined the Corowa Cougars, who had departed Group 13 a year prior, in the Goulburn Murray Rugby League, while Ladysmith United folded.

However, following the merger, Group 9 declined from a peak of 14 clubs in the late 1990s to 9 clubs in 2022. Clubs to leave in this period included Adelong-Batlow (folded), Harden-Murrumburrah (2009, George Tooke Shield), Tumbarumba (2013, Murray Cup) and Cootamundra (2021, George Tooke Shield). Turvey Park and Wagga Magpies also merged in 2005 to form the South City Bulls, while Cootamundra returned in 2025.

Meanwhile, further west, the Hay Magpies joined Group 20 from Group 17 in 2006 after that competition collapsed. Yenda became the first Group 20 side to win the prestigious Clayton Cup as the best team in the state in 2009, when they won their sixth premiership of the decade.

Modern Times

Group 17 re-formed in 2018 as the Western Riverina Community Cup, with six sides. Deniliquin (formerly of Group 17) later joined as the seventh club in 2025.

Competitions

There are three main competitions within the traditional Country Rugby League/NSWRL Riverina Division:

Group 9 Rugby League: contains 11 clubs from the Wagga Wagga district and Eastern Riverina
Group 20 Rugby League: contains nine clubs from the Griffith district and Central Riverina
Group 17 Rugby League: contains seven clubs from the Western Riverina

Aside from the three main Riverina Division competitions, Riverina-based clubs compete in the Canberra Region, George Tooke Shield and Goulburn Murray competitions.

Former competitions

Group 13 Rugby League (Albury and districts)
Kennedy Shield (Wagga Wagga and districts)

Notable Players from the Riverina

Group 9

Albury Thunder

Cootamundra Bulldogs

Junee Diesels

South City Bulls (Turvey Park/Wagga Magpies)

Nick Skinner

Temora Dragons

Wagga Wagga Brothers

Jack Littlejohn

Wagga Wagga Kangaroos

Young Cherrypickers

Group 20

Griffith

Griffith Waratahs

Leeton

Narrandera

Yanco

References

^ Campbell, Peter (2011). From the goldfields to the Mallee men : a history of the West Wyalong Rugby League Football Club, one hundred years - 1911-2010. West Wyalong, NSW: West Wyalong Rugby League Football Club. ISBN 9780646548135.
^ "Group 9 History: 1923". Group 9 History. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2018.
^ "The Murrumbidgee Rugby League & the End of the Maher Cup". The Maher Cup. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2025-01-16.

[:0-1] Campbell, Peter (2011). From the goldfields to the Mallee men : a history of the West Wyalong Rugby League Football Club, one hundred years - 1911-2010. West Wyalong, NSW: West Wyalong Rugby League Football Club. ISBN 9780646548135.

[2] "Group 9 History: 1923". Group 9 History. 3 January 2016. Retrieved 1 April 2018.

[3] "The Murrumbidgee Rugby League & the End of the Maher Cup". The Maher Cup. 2015-08-17. Retrieved 2025-01-16.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Country Rugby League (NSWRL)
Federation	Country Rugby League (former) New South Wales Rugby League (current)
Representative Teams	Country Origin (City vs Country Origin)
CRL Divisions	Canberra George Tooke Shield Central Coast Illawarra Macarthur Newcastle Northern Rivers Western
CRL Groups	Region 1: (2, 3) Region 2: (4, 19, 21) Region 3: (9, 20) Region 4: (10, 11, 14) Region 5: (7, 16)
CRL Cups	Barwon Darling Hastings Mid West Newcastle & Hunter Outback Western Riverina Woodbridge
Illawarra Teams	Berkeley Eagles Collegians Corrimal Cougars Dapto Canaries Helensburgh Tigers Thirroul Butchers Wests Red Devils
Newcastle Teams	Central Charlestown Butcher Boys Cessnock Goannas Kurri Kurri Bulldogs Lakes United Seagulls Macquarie Scorpions Maitland Pickers Northern Hawks South Newcastle Lions The Entrance Tigers Western Suburbs Rosellas Wyong Roos
Group 7 Teams	Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies Gerringong Lions Jamberoo Superoos Kiama Knights Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs Nowra-Bomaderry Jets Shellharbour Sharks Stingrays of Shellharbour Warilla-Lake South Gorillas
Other Cups	Clayton Cup Presidents Cup NSW Challenge Cup
Former Competitions	Groups: (1, 5, 12, 13, 18, 19 (Southern Tablelands), 19 (Canberra)) Crookwell Kennedy
Related Articles	List of CRL clubs Maher Cup

v t e Rugby league in New South Wales
Federations	New South Wales Rugby League (Women's) Country Rugby League (defunct; now a division of NSWRL) NSW Physical Disability Rugby League
Representative competitions	State of Origin series Interstate Series (defunct) City vs Country Origin Women's City vs Country Origin
Representative teams	New South Wales Blues City Origin Team Country Origin Team New South Wales Residents New South Wales Women New South Wales U20's New South Wales U18's New South Wales U16's
NRL clubs	Canberra Raiders Canterbury Bulldogs Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles Newcastle Knights Parramatta Eels Penrith Panthers St. George Illawarra Dragons South Sydney Rabbitohs Sydney Roosters Wests Tigers
NSWRL Junior Representatives	Jersey Flegg Cup S. G. Ball Cup Laurie Daley Cup Harold Matthews Cup Andrew Johns Cup Tarsha Gale Cup Lisa Fiaola Cup
Metropolitan Competitions	NSW Cup NSWRL Women's Premiership Presidents Cup Ron Massey Cup Sydney Shield NSWRL Conference Competitions Metro Open Age Gold Central Northern Open Age Central West Open Age Cronulla A-Grade Parramatta Open Age Penrith A-Grade South Sydney A-Grade Junior Competitions Balmain Canterbury Cronulla Manly-Warringah/North Sydney Parramatta Penrith Open Men's South Sydney A-Grade St George Sydney Roosters JRL
Country Competitions	Clayton Cup Presidents Cup Leagues: Barwon Darling Canberra George Tooke Shield Central Coast Hastings Illawarra Macarthur Mid West Newcastle Newcastle & Hunter Northern Rivers Outback Western Western Riverina Woodbridge Groups: East Coast 2 3 Greater Northern 4 19 21 Riverina 9 20 Western 14 South Coast 7 16
Discontinued competitions	NSWRL premiership Amco Cup Groups: (1, 5, 13, 18, 19 (Southern Tablelands), 19 (Canberra)) Crookwell Kennedy Shield Newtown JRL NSW Challenge Cup NSW Tertiary Student Rugby League Sydney Combined Competition Sydney Metropolitan Women's RL
Related Articles	List of clubs