Tallon Smith

Rugby league players fans across the Riverina are rejoicing and marking their calendars after Group Nine released its 2025 competition draw this morning.

The fixture, which is the largest since 2019, features 10 teams following the return of Cootamundra after a six year absence, and 16 matches for all clubs across 16 rounds.

Round 1 begins with a bang, with a three game slate set down for Saturday April 12, as Brothers host Young at the scene of the latter’s victory last September, Gundagai take on Temora in a rematch of last year’s Qualifying Final, and Albury travel to Tumut.

The action continues the following day as Cootamundra mark their return to the competition when they host the Kangaroos at Les Boyd Oval, while South City and Junee will close the round at Harris Park.

Round 3 will feature a slate of rivalry matchups, with Gundagai travelling to Twickenham to play arch rivals Tumut, Albury tackling Brothers, Junee facing Temora, defending premiers Young hosting Cootamundra and South City taking on Kangaroos in a Wagga Derby across the weekend of May 3 and 4.

The reverse matches of the rivalry weekend will be played in Round 12, on July 19 and 20.

The Grand Final rematch between the Wagga Kangaroos and Young Cherrypickers will take place in Round 10 on Sunday, June 15 at the newly renamed GeoHex Stadium in Wagga.

The derby between the two clubs that share the East Wagga ground, Kangaroos and Brothers, will take place in Round 6, with the return clash in Round 15.

Four general byes have been scheduled, to take place over Easter, the June Long Weekend, and the weekends of July 12/13 and August 2/3.

The regular season will conclude on the weekend of August 23/24, with Kangaroos-Tumut, Junee-Albury and South City-Cootamundra matchups on the Saturday, before Young host Temora and Gundagai face Brothers on the final day.

The finals series will begin the following weekend, with a top five system being employed as in previous years. 

The 2025 Group 9 Grand Final will be played on September 21 at GeoHex Stadium in Wagga Wagga.

Group 9 President Grant Fenn said that the competition board is happy with the how the fixture is shaping up, as the league prepares for a season of increased public interest and strong competition in 2025.

“We reckon the draw is a very good draw,” he said.

“It’s come out of the generator and then we’ve put it through to the clubs, and [they] have come back and we’ve looked to address [things like] where they can have gala days with minor league.

“Draws are always difficult but I think [Operations Manager] Emma Willis has done a very good job on this and we’re looking forward to a good season.”

The biggest highlight of the draw is the scheduled rivalry rounds in rounds three and 12, with Fenn excited to see how the concept goes in attracting large attendances for some of the competition’s biggest matchups.

“It’s all about making sure that we get it out on our socials and advertising and in the papers, to try and really get our crowds there for that,” he said.

“Each of those games are going to be great for their local communities, it’s always a good thing.

“Coming from Tumut, nothing gets our Tumut and Gundagai communities going better than the week when we’ve got our rivalry games on. 

“That’s similar for the other rivalry rounds, some of the towns are nice and close together and they’ve got quite a competition going between each other. 

“We’ll be very much pushing the advertising and hope we get great crowds there.”

One concern of clubs in previous seasons has been the impact of consecutive byes on match fitness, as seen when Temora were eliminated from the finals in straight sets on the back of four consecutive byes in 2023.

Fenn said that the Group has heard the concerns of clubs on this matter, and as a result, there will be no consecutive byes this season.

“This year we’ve not got positions where we’ve got sides that have got two weeks out of the competition, which is great, no one likes that,” Fenn said.

“Where we’ve got byes, they’re only single byes, they’ve got two weeks out.”

As for the other big talking point of the off-season in the return of Cootamundra, Fenn said that it is great to have the Bulldogs back in the competition.

“Cootamundra historically has been one of the very strong and great Group 9 clubs, it’s been a very strong rugby league town for the Riverina,” he said.

“Having Cootamundra back in is really terrific and we’re really hoping they go well.”

The full draw is listed below.

2025 Group 9 Rugby League season draw

Round 1 

Saturday, April 12

Brothers v Young 

Gundagai v Temora

Tumut v Albury 

Sunday, April 13

Cootamundra v Kangaroos

South City v Junee

Round 2 

Saturday, April 26

Temora v South City

Young v Albury 

Junee v Brothers 

Sunday, April 27

Cootamundra v Tumut

Gundagai v Kangaroos

Round 3

Saturday, May 3

Kangaroos v South City

Tumut v Gundagai

Albury v Brothers

Sunday, May 4

Junee v Temora

Young v Cootamundra

Round 4

Saturday, May 10

Cootamundra v Albury

Kangaroos v Junee

Sunday, May 11

South City v Tumut

Temora v Brothers

Gundagai v Young

Round 5 

Saturday, May 18

Temora v Kangaroos

Tumut v Junee

Brothers v Cootamundra

Sunday, May 19

Albury v Gundagai

Young v South City

Round 6

Saturday, May 25

South City v Albury

Junee v Young

Gundagai v Cootamundra

Sunday, May 26

Kangaroos v Brothers

Tumut v Temora

Round 7

Saturday, May 31

Tumut v Kangaroos

Temora v Young

Sunday, June 1

Albury v Junee

Cootamundra v South City

Brothers v Gundagai

Round 8

Saturday, June 14

Junee v Cootamundra

Tumut v Brothers

Sunday, June 15

Temora v Albury 

Kangaroos v Young

South City v Gundagai

Round 9

Saturday, June 21

Gundagai v Junee

Albury v Kangaroos

Sunday, June 22

Young v Tumut

Cootamundra v Temora

Brothers v South City

Round 10

Saturday, June 28

Kangaroos v Cootamundra 

Albury v Tumut 

Temora v Gundagai 

Sunday, June 29

Young v Brothers

Junee v South City

Round 11

Saturday, July 5

Kangaroos v Gundagai 

Tumut v Cootamundra 

Sunday, July 6

South City v Temora

Brothers v Junee

Albury v Young

Round 12 

Saturday, July 19

Gundagai v Tumut 

Brothers v Albury 

Sunday, July 20

Temora v Junee

Cootamundra v Young

South City v Kangaroos

Round 13

Saturday, July 26

Tumut v South City 

Junee v Kangaroos 

Brothers v Temora 

Sunday, July 27

Young v Gundagai

Albury v Cootamundra

Round 14 

Saturday, August 9

Kangaroos v Temora 

Cootamundra v Brothers 

Gundagai v Albury 

Sunday, August 10

South City v Young

Junee v Tumut

Round 15 

Saturday, August 16

Temora v Tumut 

Brothers v Kangaroos 

Sunday, August 17

Albury v South City

Young v Junee

Cootamundra v Gundagai

Round 16

Saturday, August 23

Kangaroos v Tumut 

Junee v Albury 

Sunday, August 24

South City v Cootamundra

Young v Temora

Gundagai v Brothers

Finals

Week 1 – August 30/31

Week 2 – September 6/7

Preliminary Final – September 14

Grand Final – September 21 (GeoHex Stadium, Wagga Wagga)

Cover Photo: South West Slopes Times

All other photos Tallon Smith