Group 17 Rugby League

Group 17 is a rugby league competition based in the Riverina and Central West regions of New South Wales, Australia. The competition collapsed in 2006 and reformed in 2018 as the Western Riverina Community Cup with six teams.

Group 17 Rugby League
SportRugby league
Instituted1935
Inaugural season1959
Ceased2006
Re-formed2018
Number of teams6
Country Australia
Premiers Narrandera (2022)
Most titles Hay Magpies (12 titles)
WebsiteWestern Riverina Community Cup
Proten Community Cup Rugby League on facebook

The season runs from mid-May to late July, and features a knockout, six regular season rounds, and a three week finals series culminating in the Grand Final which is hosted by a different team each year.

History

Group 17 was formed in 1935 and originally centred around Griffith and Leeton, but was suspended during World War II.[1] However, when rugby league returned to normal competition after the war, Leeton, along with Griffith, Yenda, Yanco and others, joined the Wagga Wagga competition, Group 20. Group 20 later became the Griffith and District competition after the Wagga clubs joined Group 9.

Rugby league in the Western Riverina district began as an inter-town competition between Hillston, Merriwagga, Goolgowi and Hay. The competition was suspended during World War 2.

It reformed in 1947 as the 'Western Zone' with teams from Hay, Darlington Point, Goolgowi, Carrathool and two teams from Hillston, 'Town' and 'Country'. Tullibigeal joined during the 1950s, and won the 1965 Clayton Cup, the Country Rugby League's highest honour, but later departed to form the TLU Sharks with Lake Cargelligo in Group 20. In 1959, the league became known as Group 17. In 1968, two of the competition's biggest teams, Darlington Point and Coleambally merged and joined the neighbouring Group 20 Rugby League (Griffith and District) competition. Darlington Point had far outgrown the competition, going undefeated in 1968 to win the Clayton Cup, and had already joined Group 20 the following year in 1969.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, the competition sustained a high level of competition, with eight clubs participating. More Clayton Cups were won by Group 17 clubs, with Rankins Springs (1993), Barellan (1999 and 2002) and Hillston (2006) all claiming the trophy. But by the 2000s, the Millennial Drought had caused many of the teams to be weakened, due to farming, the primary industry in the region, becoming not only unprofitable, but almost impossible. The competition collapsed after the 2006 season.

The competition was revived in 2018 as the Group 17 ProTen Community Cup, with six teams participating. The format involved a knockout and five rounds followed by semi-finals and a grand final. In each round, all three games were played at the same venue.[2] The season increased to six games the following year, where it has remained.[3]

Clubs
Club Nickname Years Home Ground No. of Premierships Premiership Years
Barellan Rams 1950s-2004, 2018-present Barellan Sports Ground 9 1973–4, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1984, 1999, 2002–03
Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs 1955-2006, 2018-present Goolgowi Recreation Ground 6 1977, 1985, 1992, 2004–05, 2019
Hillston Bluebirds 1955-2006, 2018-present Stan Peters Oval, Hillston 8 1979–80, 1983, 1986–88, 1996, 2006
Ivanhoe Roosters 1950s-2004, 2018-present Sahara Oval, Ivanhoe 0 None
Narrandera Lizards 2001, 2018-present Narrandera Sports Ground 1 2022
Rankins Springs Dragons 1955-2006, 2018-present Rankins Springs Recreation Ground 5 1993, 1997, 2000, 2018, 2021

Previous Clubs

Past participants in the Group 17 competition included:

Bold indicates that the club fielded a team in the 2006 First-Grade competition.

Grand Finals
Group 17 Grand Finals 1967–2006, 2018–21
Season Premiers Score Runners-up Coach Report Minor Premiers
1959 Hay Magpies Ivanhoe Roosters
1960 Hay Magpies Darlington Point
1961 Hay Magpies Goolgowi Rabbitohs
1962 Rankins Springs Dragons Darlington Point
1963 Darlington Point Hay Magpies
1964 Darlington Point Hay Magpies
1965 Goolgowi Rabbitohs Rankins Springs Dragons
1966 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 5-3 Hay Magpies
1967 Hay Magpies 17-9 Coleambally
1968 Darlington Point* 32-12 Hay Magpies
1969 Deniliquin Blue Heelers Hay Magpies
1970 Deniliquin Blue Heelers 26-14 Goolgowi Rabbitohs B Cotton
1971 Deniliquin Blue Heelers 26-14 Goolgowi Rabbitohs B Cotton
1972 Hay Magpies 26-9 Deniliquin Blue Heelers B. Curtis
1973 Barellan Rams 41-2 Goolgowi Rabbitohs R. Murdoch
1974 Barellan Rams 27-8 Hay Magpies R. Murdoch
1975 Hay Magpies 25-11 Goolgowi Rabbitohs M. Johnston
1976 Barellan Rams 9-3 Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs Greg Smith
1977 Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs 23-19 Hay Magpies Greg Byrnes
1978 Barellan Rams 9-5 Hillston Bluebirds J. Campbell
1979 Hillston Bluebirds 16-10 Rankins Springs Dragons G. Saddler
1980 Hillston Bluebirds 27-19 Rankins Springs Dragons John Sheridan
1981 Barellan Rams 27-3 Hillston Bluebirds P. O'Brien
1982 Hay Magpies 23-15 Hillston Bluebirds Kevin Goldspink
1983 Hillston Bluebirds 38-36 Weethalle Kangaroos Laurie Townsend TAN[4] Hay Magpies
1984 Barellan Rams 14-2 Goolgowi Rabbitohs Mick Trembath TAN[5] Goolgowi Rabbitohs
1985 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 8-6 Hay Magpies Mick Turner Goolgowi Rabbitohs
1986 Hillston Bluebirds 16-5 Barellan Rams Ray Schaefer Hillston Bluebirds
1987 Hillston Bluebirds 34-29 Ivanhoe Roosters Ray Schaefer Hillston Bluebirds
1988 Hillston Bluebirds 18-6 Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs Ray Schaefer Hay Magpies
1989 Hay Magpies 20-18 Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs Neil Nesbit Hay Magpies
1990 Hay Magpies 26-14 Goolgowi-Merriwagga Rabbitohs Neil Nisbet Goolgowi Rabbitohs
1991 Hay Magpies 14-6 Hillston Bluebirds Neil Nisbet Hay Magpies
1992 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 14-0 Rankins Springs Dragons John Barzan TAN[6] Goolgowi Rabbitohs
1993 Rankins Springs Dragons* 34-16 Hay Magpies Stuart Vearing TAN[7] Rankins Springs Dragons
1994 Hay Magpies 27-18 Hillston Bluebirds Chris Aylett TAN[8] YT[9] Ivanhoe Roosters
1995 Hay Magpies 38-10 Rankins Springs Dragons Jack Byrnes TAN[10] YT[11] Barellan Rams
1996 Hillston Bluebirds 22-8 Whitton Bulls John Townsend TAN[12] Whitton Bulls
1997 Rankins Springs Dragons 50-10 Whitton Bulls Steve Schmetzer TAN[13] Rankins Springs Dragons
1998 Whitton Bulls 20-12 Barellan Rams James Mason and Shane Bamblett TAN[14] Whitton Bulls
1999 Barellan Rams* 38-22 Rankins Springs Dragons John Waide Barellan Rams
2000 Rankins Springs Dragons 34-20 Barellan Rams Stuart Vearing TAN[15] Barellan Rams
2001 Whitton Bulls 32-28 Rankins Springs Dragons John Pannowitz (Co-coach) TAN[16] Whitton Bulls
2002 Barellan Rams* 10-7 Whitton Bulls Clint Halden TAN[17] Barellan Rams
2003 Barellan Rams 22-2 Rankins Springs Dragons Hay Magpies
2004 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 26-12 Barellan Rams Greg Borger TAN[18] Goolgowi Rabbitohs
2005 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 31-28 Hillston Bluebirds Greg Borger TAN[19] Goolgowi Rabbitohs
2006 Hillston Bluebirds* 32-0 Rankins Springs Dragons Steve Parr Hillston Bluebirds
2007-17 hiatus due to drought & not enough clubs
2018 Rankins Springs Dragons 16-10 Goolgowi Rabbitohs Jamie Parsons & Joshua Curphey YT[20] TAN[21] Rankins Springs Dragons
2019 Goolgowi Rabbitohs 22-6 Narrandera Lizards Alex Brown & John Michael Cahill TAN[22] Goolgowi Rabbitohs
2020 season cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Rankins Springs Dragons 10-8 Goolgowi Rabbitohs Jamie Parsons & John Power Goolgowi Rabbitohs
2022 Narrandera Lizards 20-14 Ivanhoe Roosters Kye Longford BFBF[23] RG[24] Ivanhoe Roosters

The use of (*) indicates that the premiers for that season won the Clayton Cup as the premier team in NSWCRL competitions statewide (regionally, excludes Sydney) for that year.

Sources
YearsItemVia
1959–70 Post; 19/07/2022 Proten Community Cup Facebook
1967–69, 1971–96 Country Rugby League Annual Report State Library of NSW
1983 to 2005 The Area News Microfilm copies at State Library of NSW
2003 to 2006 Rugby League Week Bound copies at State Library of NSW
2003 to 2006 Rugby League Week eResources at State Library of NSW
2018 to 2019 Various Newspaper Websites As referenced
2022 Battlers For Bush Footy Website
2022 The Riverine Grazier Website

See Also

References
  1. Group 9 History. 1939
  2. "ProTen Community Cup bringing Rugby League Back to Group 17 after 12 years". Country Rugby League. Daily Advertiser. 2 March 2018. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  3. "Log into Facebook". Facebook. Retrieved 28 March 2023. {{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)
  4. "Riverina League Scoreboard". The Area News. 23 August 1983. p. 23.
  5. "Rugby League Scoreboard". The Area News. 28 August 1984. p. 19.
  6. "Goolgowi too strong in wet". The Area News. 3 September 1992. p. 26.
  7. "Dragons slay Magpies to take Group 17 title". The Area News. 6 September 1993. p. 21.
  8. "Hay beats all the odds to win the flag". The Area News. 5 September 1994. p. 22.
  9. "1994 Group 17 Grand Final (Hay Magpies v Hillston Bluebirds)". YouTube. 8 January 2012 [1994]. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  10. "Hay makes it a double". The Area News. 18 September 1995. p. 28.
  11. "Hay Magpies vs Rankin Springs 1995 Group 17 Grand Final Part 8". YouTube. 25 June 2013 [1995]. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  12. "Hillston picks up the double". The Area News. 9 September 1996. p. 20.
  13. "Springs too good". The Area News. 8 September 1997. p. 24.
  14. "Whitton finally make it - Glory for Bulls as they take out Group 17 premiership". The Area News. 7 September 1998. p. 27.
  15. Stratton, Michael (4 September 2000). "Rankin Springs runs away with Group 17 title". The Area News. p. 20.
  16. "Bulls charge over Dragons". The Area News. 10 September 2001. p. 24.
  17. Stratton, Michael (11 September 2002). "Barellan holds on in thriller". The Area News. p. 28.
  18. Malone, Matt (13 September 2004). "Rabbitohs premiers after 12-year drought". The Area News. p. 24.
  19. Malone, Matt (29 August 2005). "Rabbitohs clinch a three-point victory - Goolgowi scores back-to-back victories". The Area News. p. 28.
  20. "Match Highlights: Rankins Springs Vs Goolgowi - Grand Final, 2018". YouTube. Rankins Springs Dragons RLFC. 24 July 2018. Archived from the original on 19 December 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2019.
  21. Stratton, Michael (22 July 2020). "Rankins Springs defeat Goolgowi in ProTen Community Cup grand final". The Area News. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  22. Stratton, Michael (28 July 2019). "Goolgowi defeat Narrandera in the ProTen Community Cup". The Area News. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  23. Smith, Tallon (3 November 2022). "Narrandera seeing double after Lizards crawl to community cup championships". Battlers For Bush Footy. Retrieved 13 April 2023.
  24. "Narrandera seeing double after Lizards crawl to community cup championships". The Riverine Grazier. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
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