The Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies are an

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

n rugby league football team based in

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

, a country town of the

South Coast South Coast is a name often given to coastal areas to the south of a geographical region or major metropolitan area. Geographical Australia *South Coast (New South Wales), the coast of New South Wales, Australia, south of Sydney * South Coast (Q ...

region. The Magpies are a foundation club of the Group 7 Rugby League and are members of

Country Rugby League The Country Rugby League of New South Wales (CRL), formed in 1934 and disbanded in 2019, was the governing body for the sport of rugby league football in areas of New South Wales outside the Sydney metropolitan area until it merged with NSW Rug ...

History

The Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Magpies have a very rich history in Rugby League in the South Coast. The club was founded in 1914 as a part of South Coast Rugby League along with seven other foundation clubs, three of which still compete in the league, Kiama, Gerringong, and Jamberoo.Group 7 History
/ref> The club has been one of the most successful in the league in term of premierships won with 12 overall, only Gerringong having won more (16 titles). They Magpies have also twice completed a hat-trick of first grade premierships (and is currently the only club to have done this). The streaks were from 1935–37 and 1952-54. They again won the premiership in 1966 and 1967, but have not won it since. The Magpies took a brief stint in 2002 out of first grade before returning with vengeance stronger in 2003. They have made the grand final twice in recent years only to lose at home convincingly by minor premiers, Milton-Ulladulla Bulldogs, 52-10 on home soil in 2004 after winning a mid-week fifth-place playoff to make semifinals. Then again in 2007, the Magpies lost to minor premiers, Albion Park-Oak Flats Eagles 44-10.Eagles About Us
/ref> More recently, in 2010, the club had a visit by Collingwood president and Channel Nine media personality Eddie McGuire in an effort to link the two Magpie clubs. With McGuire, was other media personality and Collingwood fan Peter Donegan. Former Berry president Michael O'Dwyer worked for Capital TV while they worked for

Network Ten Network 10 (commonly known as Ten Network, Channel 10 or simply 10) is an Australian commercial television network owned by Ten Network Holdings, a division of the Paramount Networks UK & Australia subsidiary of Paramount Global. One of five ...

in Melbourne, and has since worked closely with the two for several years.McGuire backs Berry Magpies
/ref>

Supporters

Eddie McGuire was presented with a Magpies jumper and has been quoted saying, "my Group 7 team will always be Berry-Shoalhaven Heads".

Colours

The team's colours are black and white and play out of Berry Showground,

Honours

Team

* Group 7 Rugby League Premierships: 12 :: 1923, 1926, 1928, 1935, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1966, 1967 * Group 7 Rugby League Runners-Up: 10 :: 1921, 1922, 1924, 1927, 1948, 1958, 1963, 1964, 2004, 2007 * First Grade Minor Premierships: 8 :: 1923, 1927, 1936, 1937, 1941, 1952, 1953, 1990 * Group 7 Second Grade Premierships: 1 :: 2009 *

CRL CRL may refer to: Organisations Science and technology research * Chalk River Laboratories, a Canadian nuclear research center * Charles River Laboratories, an American biomedical company * Computational Research Laboratories, an Indian computer c ...

Clayton Cup The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level of competition in its region. Usually th ...

: None ::

Individuals

* Michael Cronin Medal: 2 :: Brett Herron (1988), Paul Skewes (2007) * Group 7 Player of the Year: 1 :: Jason Berg (1996) * Rookie of the Year: 1 :: Sam Burns (2006) * Leading Point-scorer of the Year: None :: * Leading Try-scorer of the Year: 1 :: Matt Gallagher (2008) * Under-18s Player of the Year: 1 :: Nathan Benny (2006) * Under-21s Player of the Year: 1 :: John Walker (1996) * Kevin Walsh Scholarship: 9 :: Brett Stephens (1981), Pat Hayburn (1986), Shane McDermott (1987), Phil Duncan (1993), Nathan Byrne (1994), Scott Monaghan (1995), Ben Byrne (1997), Tim O'Sullivan (1998), Mitchell Liddicoat (2009) ''Source
Group 7 History
'

References

External links

Berry-Shoalhaven Heads Homepage

Country Rugby League Homepage
*

South Coast Rugby League Homepage
{{Rugby League in Australia links Rugby clubs established in 1914 1914 establishments in Australia Rugby league teams in New South Wales South Coast (New South Wales)