Tallon Smith

Group 19 Rugby League will field its first Reserve Grade competition in almost a decade after clubs were briefed on the idea at a Group meeting on Sunday.

The competition will follow a similar model to the Castlereagh League reserves, with matches beginning on the latest possible week to complete a round robin before finals, with the grade set for a late May start date.

Group 19 insiders have told Battlers For Bush Footy that the Reserve Grade premiership will follow a community cup model, similar to the Proten Community Cup and the aforementioned Castlereagh reserves, allowing teams to equalise down to as low as 10 players.

Other alterations floated involve reducing the 10 metre rule down to five metres (also as in the Proten and Castlereagh), and clubs supplying their own referees to officiate the matches due to already stretched resources in that department.

The last time Group 19 fielded an open age men’s competition below A-Grade level was in 2019, when the final season of the Second Division ran, featuring clubs such as Bingara, Bundarra, and Tenterfield.

Many of the Second Division teams were promoted to the top grade during the pandemic, but only a handful have lasted in the competition.

Meanwhile, the start date for the main three grade competition has also been confirmed, with the season set to kick off on April 4.

A whopping 11 teams have registered their interest in competing in the A-Grade competition this season, including returning outfits Glen Innes, Guyra, and Uralla.

While the majority of those teams are expected to field League Tag sides, only three have confirmed that they will field Under 18s, with those being Glen Innes, Inverell and Warialda, with Warialda also a possibility.

Full list of Group 19 entrants for 2025: Armidale Rams, Bingara, Glen Innes, Guyra, Inverell, Moree Boomerangs, Narwan Eels, Tingha, Uralla, Walcha, Warialda.