Group 17 is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

competition based in the

Riverina The Riverina is an agricultural region of south-western New South Wales, Australia. The Riverina is distinguished from other Australian regions by the combination of flat plains, warm to hot climate and an ample supply of water for irrigation ...

and Central West regions of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. The competition collapsed in 2006 and reformed in 2018 as the Western Riverina Community Cup with six teams. 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. However, when rugby league returned to normal competition after the war, Leeton, along with Griffith, Yenda, Yanco and others, joined the

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 56,000 as of June 2018, Wagga Wagga is the state's ...

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 Hillston is a township in western New South Wales, Australia, in Carrathool Shire, on the banks of the Lachlan River. It was founded in 1863 and at the had a population of 1,465. History John Oxley and his exploration party were the first Eu ...

, Merriwagga,

Goolgowi Goolgowi is a small town located in western New South Wales, Australia, around west of Sydney via the Mid-Western Highway Mid-Western Highway, sometimes Mid Western Highway, is a state highway located in the central western and northern ...

and Hay. The competition was suspended during World War 2. It reformed in 1947 as the 'Western Zone' with teams from Hay,

Darlington Point Darlington Point is a small town on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in the Riverina district of western New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Murrumbidgee Council local government area. The centre of town is four kilometres from ...

Carrathool Carrathool is a village in the western Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia, in Carrathool Shire. In , Carrathool had a population of 296 people. It is about north of the Sturt Highway between Darlington Point Darlington Point is a ...

and two teams from

, 'Town' and 'Country'.

Tullibigeal Tullibigeal is a small farming community in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. It has a population of 233 in the 2016 census. Etymology The name is an Aboriginal word for "yarran wooden spears", yarran being a native speci ...

joined during the 1950s, and won the 1965

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 t ...

, the

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 ...

's highest honour, but later departed to form the TLU Sharks with

Lake Cargelligo Lake Cargelligo () is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, on Lake Cargelligo. It is in Lachlan Shire. At the , Lake Cargelligo had a population of 1,479 people. Its name is said to be a corruption of the Aboriginal ...

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 Group 20 is a rugby league competition in the region of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in five grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's League-Tag, Reserve Grade and First Grade. Currently, a ho ...

(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. The season increased to six games the following year, where it has remained.https://facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid0fLE4zBc5g3Yp4cCH3okkQd1VvmWUwsp4HjfLgKrQqiLma8GTJnaPacYEwaTCkUwQl&id=103229188732501

Clubs

Previous Clubs

Past participants in the Group 17 competition included: *

(defunct) *

Coleambally Coleambally () is a small town in the Riverina of New South Wales, Australia, in Murrumbidgee Local Government Area. Coleambally is one of the newest towns in the state of New South Wales, officially opened in June 1968, with the Post Office o ...

''Greens'' (Merged with Darlington Point and joined Group 20 in 1973) *

''Roosters'' (Joined Group 20 in 1969, merged with Coleambally in 1973) - Premierships: 3 (1963-64,

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – " Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * J ...

) * Deniliquin ''Blue Heelers'' (defunct) - Premierships: 3 (1969–71) * Finley ''Tigers'' (Moved to

Goulburn Murray Rugby League The Goulburn Murray Premiership is a rugby league competition on the border of Victoria and New South Wales. Initially the competition was established in 1998 as the Goulburn Murray Rugby League by the Country Rugby League and the Victorian Rugb ...

) * Griffith ''Three Ways United'' (Now only play in NSW Koori Knockout) *

Hanwood Hanwood is a large village in Shropshire, England. It is located SW of Shrewsbury town centre, on the A488 road. The A5 is only a mile away. The Cambrian Line runs through the village but there is no longer a railway station here. It was clo ...

''Warriors'' (defunct) * Hay '' Magpies'' (now in Group 20) - Premierships: 12 (1959–61, 1967, 1972, 1975, 1982, 1989–91, 1994–95) *

''Sharks'' (Merged with Tullibigeal and joined Group 20) * Merriwagga ''Eagles'' (Merged into Goolgowi RLFC) * Murrin Bridge-

Euabalong Euabalong is a town in western New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Cobar Shire local government area and on the Lachlan River, west of the state capital, Sydney, and 27 kilometres from Lake Cargelligo. At the 2016 census, Euabalong ...

''Tigers'' (No longer compete in regular competition) *

(Merged with Lake Cargelligo and joined Group 20) *

Weethalle Weethalle ( ) is a town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is in the Bland Shire local government area and on the Mid-Western Highway, west of the state capital, Sydney, and north east of Griffith. At the , Wee ...

''Kangaroos'' (defunct) * Whitton ''Bulls'' (defunct) Bold indicates that the club fielded a team in the 2006 First-Grade competition.

Grand Finals

The use of (*) indicates that the premiers for that season won the

as the premier team in

NSWCRL 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 R ...

competitions statewide (regionally, excludes

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mounta ...

) for that year.

Sources

References

{{Country Rugby League Sport in the Riverina Rugby league competitions in New South Wales