A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |
| Sport | Rugby league |
|---|---|
| Instituted | 1954 |
| Number of teams | 10 (8 in First Grade) |
| Country |  Australia |
| Premiers |  Leeton Greenies (2023) |
| Most titles |  Griffith Waratahs Tigers (13 titles) |
| Website | Group 20 Rugby League on facebook |
Group 20 is a rugby league competition in the region of Griffith, New South Wales, Australia. The competition is played in six grades, with these being Under 16s, Under 18s, Women's League-Tag, Women's Tackle, Reserve Grade and First Grade.
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 Group 20 Grand Final, which is traditionally held at E.W. Moore Oval in Griffith, currently known as Solar Mad Stadium for sponsorship purposes.
The defending premiers are the Leeton Greenies, who won their eighth title in 2023 after finishing the regular season in second place.
History
Group 20 was established in 1954, as the Wagga Wagga district competition, after many of those clubs left Group 9 and Group 13.
Griffith teams, and others based in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, previously played in both Group 17 and Group 9, prior to various rezonings and redistributions as the code's popularity grew throughout the first half of the 20th century.
The competition initially featured the Griffith, Wagga Kangaroos, Wagga Magpies, Leeton, Narrandera, Yanco, Wamoon, Yenda, Batlow, Tumbarumba, Barellan and Turvey Park clubs.
Murrumbidgee Rugby League
In 1966, the rebel Murrumbidgee Rugby League broke away from the Country Rugby League, leading to four years of reshuffled boundaries from 1967 to 1970. New competitions formed were the Murrumbidgee Rugby League, Group 8/9, Group 9/20 and Riverina Zone 3. Temora and West Wyalong joined from Group 9 during this period, leading to the 9/20 name, while other Group 20 clubs played in either that competition or Riverina Zone 3.
The dispute was settled in 1971, and Temora, West Wyalong and Barmedman were added to Group 20, whilst the three Wagga Wagga clubs joined Group 9 and Tumbarumba and Batlow joined Group 13. Barellan also left for Group 17 in 1973.
Recent History
The Darlington Point-Coleambally club won four premierships in the 1980s, with these titles coming in 1980, 1983, 1987 and 1988.
The 1990s were dominated by the Yanco-Wamoon club, who won five consecutive premierships from 1992-1996, including three consecutive victories over the Griffith Waratahs club.
After being a founding member of the league and winning three premierships in 1986, 1991, and 1999, the Narrandera Lizards club were in recess in the 2000, 2002 seasons, spent 2001 in Group 17, rejoined Group 20 in 2003 and 2004 and again went into recess from 2005 till 2011. Narrandera and Yanco-Wamoon briefly merged to form the Bidgee Hurricanes from 2012 to 2014, although the merger collapsed in 2015 and Yanco-Wamoon emerged as a standalone club. Narrandera then re-formed again and moved to the Western Riverina Community Cup in 2018.
Yenda became the first Group 20 side to win the prestigious Clayton Cup as the best team in the state in 2009, when they won their sixth premiership of the decade.
Current clubs
As of 2023, there are eight clubs in the First Grade competition, three of which are located in the City of Griffith where the competition is based (the Griffith Waratah Tigers, who withdrew from all senior competitions in 2023, still compete in the junior competitions). The size of the towns competing varies in size, from Griffith and Leeton at 25,000 and 11,000 respectively, to Yenda and Yanco at 1,000 and 250 people respectively.
| Club | Nickname | Home Ground | Years in Competition | No. of Premierships | Premiership Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| First Grade Clubs | |||||
 Darlington Point-Coleambally
|
Roosters | Darlington Point Sports Ground; Coleambally Sports Ground | 1973–present | 5 | 1980, 1983, 1987–88, 2019 |
 Griffith
|
Black & White Panthers | E.W. Moore Oval, Griffith | 1954–present | 7 | 1954, 1958, 1961, 1975, 1990, 1998, 2017 |
| Griffith Waratahs
|
Tigers | Griffith Exies Oval | 1964–2022, 2024–present | 13 | 1967, 1969, 1971–72, 1976–78, 1985, 2008, 2010, 2014–15, 2018 |
 Hay
|
Magpies | Hay Park Oval | 2007–present | 0 | None |
| Leeton
|
Greenies | Leeton No. 1 Oval | 1954–present | 8 | 1959, 1964, 1966, 1981, 1997, 2007, 2022–23 |
 Tullibigeal-Lake Cargelligo
|
Sharks | Lake Cargelligo Sports Ground; Tullibigeal Recreation Ground | 1970–present | 3 | 1974, 2013, 2016 |
 West Wyalong
|
Mallee Men | Ron Crowe Oval, West Wyalong | 1966–present | 7 | 1968, 1970, 1984, 1989, 2005, 2011–12 |
 Yenda
|
Blueheelers | Wade Park, Yenda | 1954–present | 7 | 1982, 2001–04, 2006, 2009 |
| Lower Grade Clubs | |||||
 Yanco-Wamoon (Reserve Grade)
|
Hawks | Yanco Sports Ground | 1970–2011, 2015–present | 8 | 1973, 1979, 1992–96, 2000 |
 Narrandera (Under 16s)
|
Lizards | Narrandera Sports Ground | 1954–2004, 2024–present | 3 | 1986, 1991, 1999 |
Map
| Local Area | in New South Wales |
|---|---|
Previous clubs
| Club | Nickname | No. of Premierships | Premiership Years | Year Exited | Moved to |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barellan
|
Rams | 0 | None | 1950s | Moved to Group 17 |
 Barmedman
|
Clydesdales | 0 | None | 1970s | Moved to Group 9 |
 Batlow
|
Tigers | 0 | None | 1960s | Moved to Group 13 |
 Bidgee (Narrandera-Yanco-Wamoon)
|
Hurricanes | 0 | None | 2014 | Unamalgamated with Narrandera Lizards for Yanco-Wamoon to stand alone in 2015 |
| Narrandera
|
Lizards | 3 | 1986, 1991, 1999 | 2000–2002, 2005 | Left for Group 17 after the 2000 season, returned in 2003. Disbanded in 2005 before amalgamating with Yanco-Wamoon Hawks to form Bidgee Hurricanes in 2012. After Hurricanes collapsed, reformed in Group 17. |
 Temora
|
Dragons | 0 | None | 1970 | Moved to Group 9 |
| Tumbarumba
|
Greens | 1 | 1960 | 1960s | Group 13, then Group 9. |
| Turvey Park
|
Lions | 0 | None | 1970s | Moved to Group 9 |
 Wagga Wagga
|
Kangaroos | 2 | 1962–63 | 1966 | Moved to Group 9 |
 Wagga Wagga
|
Magpies | 4 | 1955–57, 1965 | 1966 | Group 9, then merged with Turvey Park to form South City Bulls. |
First Grade Grand Finals
| Season | Teams | Premiers | Score | Runners-up | Coach | Barry Hails Medal | Referee | Venue | Report | Minor Premiers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1954 | 8 | Griffith
|
20–9 |  Wamoon
|
Albert Paul | G. Beer | Narrandera | [1] | Wamoon
| |
| 1955 | 8 |  Wagga Magpies
|
11–0 | Leeton
|
Alan Staunton | Mal Brentnall | Leeton | [2] | Wagga Magpies
| |
| 1956 | 7 | Wagga Magpies
|
5–0 | Yenda
|
Alan Staunton | Jim Stokes | Narrandera | [3] | Wagga Magpies
| |
| 1957 | 10 | Wagga Magpies
|
18–12 | Yenda
|
Billy Wilson | Len Lamont | Narrandera | Wagga Magpies
| ||
| 1958 | 10 | Griffith
|
16–8 | Leeton
|
Ian Johnson | Mal Brentnall | Narrandera | Leeton
| ||
| 1959 | 9 | Leeton
|
16–0 | Griffith
|
Martin Gallagher | Bill Castles | Narrandera | [4] | Leeton
| |
| 1960 | 9 |  Tumbarumba
|
13–8 | Yenda
|
Don Furner | Jack Jewell | Narrandera | |||
| 1961 | 9 | Griffith
|
19–14 | Tumbarumba
|
John Kelly | Len Lamont | Narrandera | |||
| 1962 | Wagga Kangaroos
|
14–7 | Tumbarumba
|
Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Group_20_Rugby_League