By Tallon Smith

The Narrandera Lizards will once again wear the green and gold jersey in Group 20 senior footy after their application to join the Under 16s was accepted by Group 20.

Unlike the rest of the state, in the Riverina Under 16s are a part of the senior setup, meaning that when the side takes the field in Aub Farrell Trophy competition, it will be the first time since 2005 that the Lizards will start a team in the competition.

Narrandera Senior RLFC President Shaun Lyons said that the move back to Group 20 is the culmination of a lot of hard work by club volunteers and supporters.

“First of all, I think it’s been a long time coming, to be honest, with our juniors being so successful over the last 10 years, and just finally to give them somewhere to go after that Under 14s age group,” he said.

“There’s no Under 15s in Group 20, so it’s straight from 14s to 16s, so to have that connection back in Group 20 is a good thing for us, but also for our juniors, [who] don’t have to go to different towns.

“[For example], my son, he had to go play in Wagga, and a couple this year went to play for Junee, others went to Darlington Point and some went to Leeton, they won’t have to do that [anymore], they can still wear the green and gold.”

To fit into the draw, the club has aligned with their former partners in the ill-fated Bidgee Hurricanes merger, the Yanco-Wamoon Hawks, something that proves old wounds can be healed in the name of nurturing and growing country rugby league.

“We’re in a bit of an association with Yanco, we have been in contact with each other, us and Yanco, as Yanco look unlikely to have Under 16s,” Lyons said.

“So we sort of approached each other as putting Narrandera in as their 16s, that’s how it all came about.

“I think it’s good for Narrandera especially, and secondly for Yanco, some of those players, they can come out and play for Narrandera on the Yanco draw.

“It’s going to be a Narrandera team with influence from Yanco.

“Our juniors will [also] follow Yanco, as every junior club has to follow a senior club.”

In a slightly confusing but pretty straightforward model, the team will be the first Narrandera side in a Group 20 senior competition in 20 years, and will train with the seniors, but will be run under the banner of the Junior club, to save the seniors having to re-affiliate with Group 20 while their Open Men’s and Women’s sides compete in the Proten Community Cup.

“It’s been talked about for the last three or four weeks to be honest, it’s not something that’s happened overnight, and even though they’re going to be part of the Junior system, the Senior club will be responsible for them,” he said.

“They will train with the Seniors, and they’ll do everything with the Seniors, but they’ll still be a part of the Junior club.”

Lyons said that the reaction within the town has been incredible, with many starting to believe a return to First Grade football in Group 20 is possible off the back of their juniors and the success of their Senior side in the Proten Community Cup.

“The positive reaction has been unreal,” he said.

“It’s come to the point, we’ve got all these talented boys coming through, think we had five boys in the Canberra Raiders Under 15s train on squad, and even just for those boys to not be a part of the Lizards again and to have to split up wouldn’t be justice for the Under 14s that went through undefeated all year but got done in the Grand Final.

“Down the track, I think we’ll take one year at a time, I think next year we’ll play the Proten Cup and hold the Grand Final in Narrandera and have our Under 16s back, and then I think we’ll reassess after that, see where we’re at. But to be realistic I think the future for Narrandera , to have our juniors playing, is to get back into Group 20 in the near future.”

Group 20 President Adam Brill said that the move for the Lizards to rejoin the competition was great news for the game in the area, which has started to rebound after a tough 2023 season.

“It’s positive, it means first and foremost it’s another Under 16s side, so there’s more games for kids, and yes it is a step towards Narrandera possibly coming back into Group 20,” he said.

“It’s all positive at this stage, and the talk coming out of Narrandera is good too, they think they’re gonna get a 16s side which is a good step.

“I think the juniors, when they went to follow the seniors, home and away, it’s been a positive step, they’ve grown in numbers and they’re starting to feed through now.”

According to sources, the Group 20 season will not feature a knockout in 2024, meaning the competition will begin with Round 1 in April, where the Yanco-Wamoon and Narrandera clubs have been allocated a bye.

(Cover Photo: Narrandera’s Senior side after they won the 2023 Proten Community Cup Grand Final)