Group 19 Rugby League

The New England Group 19 Rugby League competition is a Rugby league competition which is run under the auspices of the NSWRL, which absorbed the NSWCRL in 2019. It is based in the New England region. It was originally called the Group 5 Rugby League Premiership but that competition merged with another local competition to form New England Group 19. The competition is generally played on Sundays throughout the winter months, with strong local rivalries as well as inter – town rivalries.

This page is for the current competition in the New England region of NSW.
For information about the Group 19 Premiership which ran from 1974-1979 in the Canberra Region, see Group 19 Rugby League (1974-1979).
For information about the previous competition labelled Group 19, which ran in the Southern Tablelands of New South Wales, see Group 19 Rugby League (1950-1970).

Group 19 Rugby League
SportRugby league
Formerly known asGroup 5 Rugby League
Instituted1980
Inaugural season1980
Number of teams11
CountryAustralia
Premiers Narwan Eels (2023)
Most titles Warialda Wombats (12 titles)
WebsiteGroup 19

History

Group 5 Rugby League

Historically, rugby league in the Northern Tablelands and North West was administered under the Group 5 Rugby League banner.

Group 19 emerged from Group 5 in the early 1980s, and initially featured roughly half of all the clubs from the Northern Tablelands and North West NSW. Group 5 eventually merged into the Group 19 competition after the 1981 season and the league has been known as New England Group 19 ever since.

Group 19 Rugby League

In the 1980s, Noel Cleal and his brother Les emerged from Warialda to rise to prominence in the NSWRL Premiership.

The early 1990s were dominated by the two Moree sides, the Boomerangs and Boars, before the Inverell, Warialda and Armidale Rams sides rose to the top of the league in the late 1990s. Guyra, known as the Super Spuds, won a hat trick of Premierships from 2002-2004.

Glen Innes, Tingha and Inverell dominated the late 2000s and early 2010s with the Moree Boomerangs emerging as the dominant side with back-to-back titles in 2013 and 2014.

In just their second season in Group 19 the MacIntyre Warriors claimed the A Grade honours, winning a tight contest over the returning Narwan Eels in 2017. The Eels returned to the competition after several years hiatus due to unruly supporters and unsportsmanlike behaviour.

Unfortunately the MacIntyre Warriors folded in 2018, as a result of many players rejoining the nearby Goondiwindi league side. Their absence paved the way for a return to the premiers circuit for the highly rated Moree Boomerangs, a team that wear their indigenous flag themed jerseys with much pride.

Guyra and Ashford folded after the COVID-19 plagued 2021 season, and Moree Boars left the year prior to join Group 4. Warialda, Tingha and a Uralla-Walcha joint venture rejoined the 2022 A Grade competition bringing the total to seven teams as Glen Innes entered a year's hiatus.

The 2023 Under 18's competition was won by the Glen Innes Magpies against Narwan Eels.

Clubs

Current clubs in Group 19

The Tooheys New England Group 19 Premiership currently contains eleven clubs, two of which are in Armidale (the Armidale Rams and Narwan Eels), and nine from the surrounding area.

TeamMonikerGroundMen'sLLT Group 5 / 19 Premierships
ArmidaleRamsHarris Park, ArmidaleYesYes 7 (1966-67, 1970-71, 1976, 1995, 1997)
Bingara Bullets Bingara Sports Ground Yes Yes None
Guyra Super Spuds Guyra Sports Ground Yes Yes 6 (1969, 1988, 2002-04, 2006)
Glen InnesMagpiesKerry Meade Park, Glen InnesYesYes 6 (1959, 1989, 1991, 2008, 2010, 2012)
Inverell RSMHawksVarley Oval, InverellYesYes 6 (1975, 1998, 2000, 2011, 2016, 2018)
MoreeBoomerangsBurt Jovanovich Oval, MoreeYesYes 6 (1992, 1994, 2013-14, 2018-19)
NarwanEelsNewling Oval, ArmidaleYesYes 7 (1980-84, 2005, 2022)
TinghaTigersTingha Sports GroundYesYes 1 (2009)
Uralla-WalchaTigerRoosUralla Showground & Woodville OvalYesYes 2 each (1985, 1990 Uralla & 1957-58 Walcha)
WarialdaWombatsCaptain Cook Park, WarialdaYesYes 12 (1961-65, 1973-74, 1980, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2007)

Recess 2023
Team Moniker Ground Men's LLT Group 5 / 19 Premierships
Bundarra Bears Bundarra Sports & Recreation Ground Recess 2023 None

Part of Final 2nd Division Season in 2019

(Plus Bingara, Bundarra, Guyra, Tingha and Warialda who have moved up to the A Grade competition)

Other Former Clubs

Champions

Group 19 Rugby League Champions

Season Champions Score Runners-up
1980 Narwan 23–11 Armidale
1981 Narwan 23–8 Wright College Armidale
1982 Narwan 20–17 Glen Innes
1983 Narwan 16–12 Walcha
1984 Narwan 50–12 Guyra
1985 Uralla 20–4 Glen Innes
1986 YCW Armidale 4–0 Guyra
1987 YCW Armidale 20–18 Uralla
1988 Guyra 36–18 Tingha
1989 Glen Innes 35–6 Armidale
1990 Uralla 12–4 Glen Innes
1991 Glen Innes 28–12  ?
1992 Moree Boomerangs 26–18 Glen Innes
1993 Moree Boars 22–20 Armidale
1994 Moree Boomerangs 30–20 Inverell RSM
1995 Armidale 36–28 Glen Innes
1996 Warialda 36–20 Inverell RSM
1997 Armidale 34–24 Guyra
1998[1] Inverell RSM 28–14 Armidale
1999 Warialda 22–20 Inverell RSM
2000 Inverell RSM 24–12 Glen Innes
2001 Warialda 50–14 Guyra
2002 Guyra 56–24 Narwan
2003 Guyra 44–36 Narwan
2004 Guyra 46–22 Narwan
2005 Narwan 35–22 Guyra
2006 Guyra 28–8 Inverell RSM
2007 Warialda 38–24 Guyra
2008 Glen Innes 26–10 Tingha
2009 Tingha 46–14 Guyra
2010 Glen Innes 14–4 Guyra
2011 Inverell RSM 33–26 Glen Innes
2012[2] Glen Innes 60–12 Guyra
2013[3][4] Moree Boomerangs 48–22 Gwydir
2014[5] Moree Boomerangs 56–18 Inverell RSM
2015 Inverell RSM 26–24 Moree Boomerangs
2016[6] Inverell RSM 42–28 MacIntyre
2017[7] MacIntyre 26–22 Narwan
2018[8] Moree Boomerangs 36–28 Glen Innes
2019 Moree Boomerangs 36–34 Glen Innes
2020 and 2021 seasons cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic
2022 Narwan 22-20 Moree Boomerangs
2023[9] Narwan 34-22 Inverell RSM

Group 5 Rugby League

The competition in the area was previously known as Group 5. Once the Group 19 name became available after the demise of the previous competitions of that name, a breakaway competition from Group 5 became known as New England Group 19. Group 5 merged into this league two years later. The 'Moree' listed is the predecessor of the Moree Boars.

Group 5 Rugby League Champions

Season Champions Score Runners-up
1957 Walcha 11-9 Inverell RSM
1958 Walcha 13-9 Moree
1959 Glen Innes 8-2 Moree
1960 Moree 11-2 Armidale
1961 Warialda 22–8 Moree
1962 Warialda 17–6 Armidale
1963 Warialda 16–11 Guyra
1964 Warialda 21–2 Guyra
1965 Warialda 28–9 Armidale
1966 Armidale 15–10 Warialda
1967 Armidale 7–6 Glen Innes
1968 Moree Mission Jets 9–4 Armidale
1969 Guyra 20–7 Warialda
1970 Armidale 13–3 Glen Innes
1971 Armidale 4–2 Guyra
1972 Moree 11–7 Inverell RSM
1973 Warialda 36–7 Inverell RSM
1974 Warialda 17–8 Glen Innes
1975 Inverell RSM 9–8 Moree
1976 Armidale 12–11 Moree
1977 Moree 18–13 Inverell RSM
1978 Moree 37–10 Glen Innes
1979 Moree 12–5 Glen Innes
1980 Warialda 14–9 Glen Innes
1981 Moree 30–13 Inverell RSM

Group 19 Junior League

Current Teams

See also

References
  1. "Group 19: A Grade Armidale Colts V Inverell Hawks 1998 Grandfinal". NBN TV. 16 July 2016 [1998]. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via YouTube.
  2. Robertson, Grant (2 September 2012). "Record win for ruthless Magpies". Northern Daily Leader. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  3. Rothfield, Phil (9 September 2013). "Monday Buzz: A fairytale 12 years in the making". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  4. "Boomerangs Vs Gwydir Grand Final 2013 in Moree". 8 September 2013. Archived from the original on 21 December 2021. Retrieved 27 April 2019 – via YouTube.
  5. Kirkman, Laini (22 September 2014). "Moree Boomerangs grand final: PHOTOS". Moree Champion. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  6. Hauser, Liam (29 August 2016). "Inverell Hawks are on top of the world". Inverell Times. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  7. Jones, Ian (20 September 2017). "Macintyre Warriors take Group 19 win". Moree Champion. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  8. Harris, Sophie (3 September 2018). "Moree Boomerangs defeat Glen Innes Magpies to secure Group 19 A grade premiership". Moree Champion. Retrieved 27 April 2019.
  9. Smith, Tallon (29 August 2023). "Grand Final Watch: Kendall, Narwan, Merimbula, Wolfpack all crowned premiers in respective competitions". Battlers For Bush Footy. Retrieved 29 August 2023.

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