The Riverina Football Netball League (RFNL) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

and

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

competition containing nine clubs 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 ...

region 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 league features three grades in the Australian rules football competition, with these being First-Grade, Reserve-Grade and Under 17s. In the netball competition, there are five grades, with these being A-Grade, A Reserve-Grade, B-Grade, C-Grade and Under 17s. In 2020, due to COVID-19 the Hume Football league team Osborne joined the competition for the 6 round season. Currently a home and away season consisting of eighteen rounds is played. The best five teams then play off according to the McIntyre System, culminating in the RFNL Grand Final, which is traditionally hosted by

Narrandera Narrandera ( ) until around 1949 also spelled "Narandera", is a town located in the Riverina region of southern New South Wales, Australia. The town lies on the junction of the Newell and Sturt highways, adjacent to the Murrumbidgee River, and ...

History

The Riverina Football League was formed in 1982 when the South Western District Football League, the Central Riverina Football League and the

Farrer Football League The Farrer Football Netball League (FFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition containing nine clubs based in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The league features three grades in the Australian rules footba ...

amalgamated in order to create the Riverina Football League and the

Riverina District Football League 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 ...

, with the latter changing its name to the

in 1985.

Current clubs

Former clubs

Timeline of clubs

DateFormat = yyyy ImageSize = width:1000 height:auto barincrement:20 Period = from:1981 till:2025 TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal PlotArea = right:20 left:0 bottom:50 top:5 #> to display a count on left side of graph, use "left:20" to suppress the count, use "left:20"<# Colors = id:barcolor id:line value:pink id:bg value:white id:premier value:rgb(0.996,0.4,0.4) id:AFL value:rgb(0.4,0.80,0.1) # Use this color to denote a team that is a current league member id:VFA value:rgb(0.6,0.8,1) # Use this color to denote a team that is a former league member id:VFL value:rgb(0.35,0.55,1) id:SANFL value:rgb(0.996,0.4,0.4) # Use this color to denote when team that has moved in from a different league was active in the prior league(s) id:Interclub value:RGB(0.7,0.7,0.7) id:Marker value:rgb(0,0,0) PlotData = width:15 textcolor:black shift:(5,-5) anchor:from fontsize:s bar:1 color:marker from:1982 till:1982 text: Riverina Football Netball League Founded (1982) bar:4 color:VFA from:1982 till:1983 text: Barellan United (1982) bar:2 color:VFA from:1982 till:1986 text: Ardlethan (1982) bar:3 color:VFA from:1982 till:1990 text: Ariah Park-Mirrool (1982) bar:6 color:VFA from:1982 till:1994 text: Leeton (1982) bar:5 color:VFA from:1982 till:2009 text: East Wagga-Kooringal (1982) bar:10 color:VFA from:1982 till:2021 text: Coolamon (1982) bar:11 color:VFA from:1982 till:2021 text: Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong (1982) bar:12 color:VFA from:1982 till:2021 text: Griffith (1982) bar:15 color:VFA from:1982 till:2021 text: Narrandera (1982) bar:17 color:VFA from:1982 till:2021 text: Turvey Park (1982) bar:18 color:VFA from:1982 till:2001 text: Wagga (1982) bar:18 color:VFA from:2007 till:2021 text: (rejoined 2007) bar:7 color:VFA from:1982 till:1983 text: North Wagga (1982) bar:7 color:VFA from:1995 till:1997 text:(rejoined 1995) bar:7 color:VFA from:2008 till:2009 text:(rejoined 2008) bar:13 color:VFA from:1995 till:2021 text: Leeton-Whitton (1995) bar:14 color:VFA from:1995 till:2021 text: Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes (1995) bar:8 color:VFA from:1995 till:2001 text: Temora (1995) bar:9 color:VFA from:1995 till:1997 text: Collingullie-Glenfield Park (1995) bar:9 color:VFA from:2011 till:2021 text:(rejoined 2011) bar:16 color:VFA from:2020 till:2021 text: Osborne (2020) ScaleMajor = gridcolor:line unit:year increment:5 start:1985 TextData = fontsize:L textcolor:black pos:(0,30) tabs:(400-center) text:

Season structure

Pre-season

The Riverina Football League like most country leagues does not have a formal Pre-season competition. As part of their Pre-season preparation clubs will often schedule between one and two practice matches with clubs from other leagues prior to the season beginning. These matches could take on different structures and were primarily conducted on a non-official basis with limited match officials and scores not being recorded.

Premiership season

The Riverina home-and-away season at present lasts for 18 rounds for a total of 16 matches and 2 byes per team. The season starts in mid April and ends in late August. Each team plays each other team twice - once at home and once away. Teams receive four premiership points for a win or bye and two premiership points for a draw. Ladder finishing positions are based on the number of premiership points won, and "percentage" (calculated as the ratio of points scored to points conceded throughout the season) is used as a tie-breaker when teams finish with equal premiership points.

Finals series

The Riverina football finals consisted of a 'Top-5' finals system. The winning team receives a silver premiership cup, a premiership flag – a new one of each is manufactured each year. The flag has been presented since the league began and is traditionally unfurled at the team's first home game of the following season. Additionally, each player in the grand final-winning team receives a premiership medallion. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

during the 2020 season a number of clubs did not participate. The remaining clubs took part in a six-round season and a 'Top-4' finals structure.

Finals structure

2020 Finals series

Notable players

Footballers from the South Western District, Central Riverina, Farrer, Riverina and Riverina District/Farrer Football Leagues who have played in the

VFL/AFL The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

include: *

Terry Daniher Terrence "Terry" John Daniher (born 15 August 1957) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne and Essendon Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Terry was also an assistant coach for the Esse ...

( Ariah Park- Mirrool) *

Ricky Quade Ricky Quade (born 26 August 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented South Melbourne in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Quade later became better known as the inaugural coach of the Sydney Swans, when South Melbourne r ...

( Ariah Park- Mirrool) *

Chris Daniher Christopher "Chris" James Daniher (born 31 March 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). His brothers Terry, Neale and Anthony also played for Essendon i ...

( Ariah Park- Mirrool & Coolamon) * Colin Hounsell ( Collingullie) * Jason Wild ( Collingullie- Ashmont) * Greg Smith ( East Wagga) *

Dennis Carroll Dennis Carroll (born 7 November 1960) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He was the last South Melbourne player to retire for Sydney. From Ganmain, a small town ou ...

(

Ganmain Ganmain is a town in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Ganmain is located around north west of Wagga Wagga, and east of Narrandera. Ganmain is in the Coolamon Shire local government area and had a population at the 2016 ...

) * Tom Carroll (

) *

Frank Gumbleton Frank Gumbleton (born 6 March 1951) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club in the Victorian Football League during the 1970s. Gumbleton was recruited from the country NSW football club of Ganm ...

(

) *

Daniel McPherson Daniel McPherson (born 5 July 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League. Originally from Matong, a small town in New South Wales, McPherson played for the Swans between 1 ...

(

- Grong Grong-

Matong Matong is a town in the central east part of the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The town is east of Narrandera and west of Coolamon. At the 2016 census, Matong had a population of 164 people. Sport The most popular sport i ...

) *

Kurt Aylett Kurt Aylett (born 2 April 1992) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Greater Western Sydney Giants and Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was recruited in mid 2010 by through ...

( Leeton- Whitton) *

Michael Phyland Michael Phyland (born 29 September 1965) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the Sydney Swans in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Phyland represented New South Wales at Under 18 Championships in 1982 and won the Larke ...

(

Mangoplah Mangoplah is a town approximately south of Wagga Wagga in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 Australian census, 2016 census, Mangoplah had a population of 309. The name of the town is believed to mean "Kooris singin ...

Cookardinia Cookardinia is a rural locality in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The locality is south of the regional city of Wagga Wagga and east of the town of Henty. Its surrounding area has an approximate population of 283 person ...

United) * Orren Stephenson (

United- Eastlakes) *

Perc Bushby Percy Bushby (27 May 1919 – 29 August 1975) was an Australian rules footballer who played in the Victorian Football League (VFL). He played in the Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district ...

(

) * Terry O'Neill (

) *

Wayne Carey Wayne Francis Carey (born 27 May 1971) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne Football Club and Adelaide Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A dual-premiership captain at North Melbourne ...

( North Wagga) * Brett Scott ( The Rock- Yerong Creek) *

Cameron Mooney Cameron Mooney (born 26 September 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the North Melbourne and Geelong Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). A forward, tall and weighing , Mooney is renowned for his p ...

(

Turvey Park Turvey Park is an inner southern suburb of Wagga Wagga in southern New South Wales, Australia. Its boundaries are defined by Fernleigh Road to the south, Glenfield Road to the west, Coleman Street to the north and to the east by Willans Hill. Tu ...

) * Jason Mooney (

) * David Murphy (

) *

Anthony Daniher Anthony Joseph Daniher (born 21 January 1963) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne/Sydney and Essendon Football Clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Anthony's brothers, Terry, Neale and Chri ...

(

) * Ben Fixter ( Wagga Tigers & Coolamon) * Paul Hawke ( Wagga Tigers) * Paul Kelly ( Wagga Tigers) *

Bill Mohr Wilbur T. "Bill" Mohr (29 June 1909 – 29 March 1971) was an Australian rules footballer who represented St Kilda in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1930s. Career Playing as a half-back flanker initially, Mohr later became ...

( Wagga Tigers) *

John Pitura John Pitura (born 21 September 1950) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne and Richmond Football Clubs in the Victorian Football League (VFL) during the 1970s. Pitura was born in Wagga Wagga to a Polish f ...

( Wagga Tigers) * Brad Seymour ( Wagga Tigers) * Harry Lampe (

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 ...

) Footballers from the Riverina and Farrer Football Leagues who are currently playing in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

include: * Matthew Kennedy ( Collingullie- Glenfield Park) * Harry Perryman ( Collingullie- Glenfield Park) *

Dougal Howard Dougal Howard (born 25 March 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Formerly playing for Port Adelaide, which recruited him with pick 56 in the 2014 n ...

( East Wagga- Kooringal and Wagga Tigers) *

Matt Suckling Matthew Suckling (born 25 July 1988) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). Suckling is known as a player with precision kicking and link-u ...

( East Wagga- Kooringal and Wagga Tigers) * Sam Murray (

- Grong Grong-

) *

Jacob Hopper Jacob Hopper (born 6 February 1997) is a professional Australian rules footballer for the Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL), having previously played for . Early life Hopper was born in New South Wales and grew u ...

( Leeton- Whitton) *

Jacob Townsend Jacob Townsend (born 20 June 1993) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League (AFL). He previously played 28 matches over four seasons with the Greater Western Sydne ...

( Leeton- Whitton) * Jock Cornell (

United- Eastlakes) * Harrison Himmelberg (

United- Eastlakes) * Matthew Flynn (

) * Zac Williams (

) * Jake 'Delisted' Barrett ( Temora) *

Luke Breust Luke Breust (born 11 November 1990) is an Australian rules footballer who plays for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Early career Recruited from Temora, New South Wales, Breust played both rugby league and A ...

( Temora) * Isaac Smith ( Temora, East Wagga- Kooringal and Wagga Tigers) * Harry Cunningham (

) * Max King ( Wagga Tigers)

Premiers

First-Grade

Reserve-Grade

Under 17s/18s

Under 18s

*1982: Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong *1983: Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong *1984: Leeton *1985: Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong *1986: Turvey Park *1987: Turvey Park *1988: Wagga Tigers *1989: Griffith *1990: Turvey Park *1991: Griffith *1992: Wagga Tigers *1993: Wagga Tigers *1994: Coolamon *1995: Wagga Tigers *1996: Collingullie-Ashmont *1997: Wagga Tigers *1998: Wagga Tigers *1999: Griffith *2000: Turvey Park *2001: Wagga Tigers *2002: Narrandera *2003: Leeton-Whitton *2004: Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes *2005: Turvey Park *2006: Leeton-Whitton *2007: Leeton-Whitton *2008: Wagga Tigers

Under 17s

*2009: Wagga Tigers *2010: Leeton-Whitton *2011: Turvey Park *2012: Wagga Tigers *2013: Wagga Tigers *2014: Wagga Tigers *2015: Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes *2016: Griffith Swans *2017: Turvey Park *2018: Turvey Park *2019: Turvey Park

Final Standings

2008 Ladder

2009 Ladder

2010 Ladder

2011 Ladder

2012 Ladder

2013 Ladder

2014 Ladder

2015 Ladder

2016 Ladder

2017 Ladder

2018 Ladder

2019 Ladder

External links

Official Riverina Football League websiteAFL Riverina
{{Netball in New South Wales Sport in the Riverina Australian rules football competitions in New South Wales Netball leagues in New South Wales