Bryson Luff

In an announcement that has shocked the entire Castlereagh League region, the Gilgandra Panthers have announced that they will not be fielding either a first grade or reserve grade team in 2025.

Gilgandra Rugby League Club President, Shane Byrne, has indicated that a there are a number of factors that have contributed to the club’s committee making the very difficult decision to withdraw both men’s sides from the Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition this year, but basically it came down to the fact that there was not enough committed first grade players attending training.

With the first-grade knockout being played this coming Saturday (12th April) and round one of the competition being played on the 26th of April the time had come for the Gilgandra committee to reluctantly “pull the pin” for the year, because the player numbers were just not sufficient enough to carry the club through an entire season.

In recent times the Gilgandra Panthers first grade side played in every grand final from 2015 to 2022, winning three straight premierships from 2016 to 2018.

The club’s reserve grade side won the 2024 premiership, but they will not have the opportunity to defend that title as Gilgandra will not be fielding any senior men’s sides in 2025.

Along with a number of first grade players recently retiring or moving to other clubs, the “attractiveness” of playing in the short reserve grade competition, which is played over five weeks heading into the finals series at the end of the year, was seen as a contributing factor in terms of the minimal number of players willing to commit to the training required to play first grade.

The decision to also not field a reserve grade team in 2025 was made by the Gilgandra club in order to maintain the integrity of the Castlereagh League competition.

The Gilgandra club believes that every club should be striving to provide a strong first grade side to the competition, and whilst the reserve grade competition is a welcome addition to the Castlereagh League landscape, it is also attracting players who have the ability to play first grade and eroding not only first grade player numbers but also the standard of the first
grade competition.

The Gilgandra club will be represented on the playing field in 2025 by their league tag side, the Pink Panthers, as they look to rebuild for season 2026.