“Full steam ahead”: Draw released for West Wyalong Knockout after uncertain few weeks

Tallon Smith

West Wyalong President Matt Goodwin has declared it is “full steam ahead” for the 52nd edition of the West Wyalong Knockout after a 15-team draw was released for the event later this month.

In an article in Wagga Wagga’s Daily Advertiser on Wednesday, Goodwin declared that the event would proceed despite a late change to the draw after an uncertain past couple of weeks for tournament organisers.

After being named in the draw in the place of Yenda, who have withdrawn from the knockout, the Mudgee Dragons confirmed on Wednesday that they will not be playing at the two-day festival of footy on February 28 and March 1.

Due to the changes, the event’s opening match will be played between Forbes and Tullibigeal-Lakes United at 6:30pm.

Following that comes the biggest match of the evening, with the hometown Mallee Men set to face last season’s Peter McDonald Premiership runners-up Parkes at 7:10pm.

Reigning Group 9 Premiers Young will take on Griffith Waratahs at 7:50pm as they look to avenge their loss to Woden in last year’s Knockout final.

The match originally scheduled next at 8:30pm was Yanco-Wamoon v Mudgee, however the Hawks will now receive the bye through to the Saturday.

As a result, West Wyalong President Matt Goodwin confirmed to Battlers For Bush Footy on Thursday that Leeton will now play South City at 8:30pm, with all subsequent games moved forward 40 minutes.

Next up at 9:10pm, Cooma will tackle last year’s winners Woden Valley, before Dubbo CYMS face off with the Hay Magpies at 9:50.

The final match of the evening will see Group 16 side Bombala square off with Orange CYMS at 10:30.

All winners will progress through to the Saturday, which will begin with the quarter finals and conclude with the knockout final later that evening.

The release of the draw confirms that the 2025 edition will proceed after a period of uncertainty over the past two weeks threatened the event, which had filled all 16 draw slots in a strong turnaround after a leaner 11-team event last year.

Calls for a boycott of the knockout emerged from some involved in the game following the circulation of a racist video posted on Snapchat by a former West Wyalong RLFC player.

However, the position of many of the clubs involved is that while they strongly condemn the opinions and themes expressed within the video, the actions of one person do not represent the West Wyalong club as a whole.

After discussions with members of the West Wyalong club in the wake of the incident, Battlers For Bush Footy can confirm the club will ensure all players receive Indigenous cultural education and will take other measures to improve club culture and player knowledge, and crucially, to prevent the occurrence of any further similar instances.

The club will host Nathan Blacklock, Ron Gibbs and Christian Heffernan, the son of Immortal Arthur Beetson, at the Knockout, with the trio also set to attend a Mallee Men training session to deliver the first of the education sessions.

While some external sources have been critical of the club’s handling of the matter, the Mallee Men’s approach to dealing with the video has been far better than that of the player’s Australian rules football club, the Tullibigeal Grasshoppers, who are yet to acknowledge the incident.

In addition to this, neither the Northern Riverina Football Netball League or AFL NSW/ACT have acknowledged the video nor publicly handed down any sanctions regarding the incident, which occurred in Tullibigeal on January 26.

This is in contrast to the NSWRL’s swift decision to serve the player with a breach notice pending further investigation.

Meanwhile, Yenda’s withdrawal from the event is due to separate, unrelated reasons.