Is six games enough for rugby league to survive in these small communities?

Tallon Smith

Concerns have again been raised about the viability of the Barwon Darling Rugby League after an even shorter season with fewer clubs was confirmed upon the release of the competition’s 2025 fixture.

The competition draw, forwarded to Battlers For Bush Footy on Thursday, features just four clubs competing over six rounds before a two-week finals series.

This comes off the back of the news that the Bourke Warriors would not field a team in the competition, the first time that has occurred since the competition was relaunched in 2001 after the initial demise of Group 15 in 1992.

Just last year, Lightning Ridge League Tag premiership player Jada Seaton, who flew back from university in Wollongong on some weekends to play for the Redbacks, told Battlers For Bush Footy that the lack of games was a concern for players.

“I think there [were] six or five games through the season, I ended up playing about three of them,” she said.

“It’s just sad how [few] games you get to play each year, and more [players and clubs] are dropping out, and so I think it’s worrisome.

“No one cares about regional bush footy out that way.”

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Also frustrated with the lack of games, the Walgett Dragons, who have the added benefit of being on the south-eastern perimeter of the competition, have explored the idea of leaving the competition to join the neighbouring Castlereagh League, which plays a standard length competition.

Dragons Secretary Thomas Sullivan confirmed to Battlers that the club was exploring the idea to try and revitalise senior footy in the famous rugby league town, but was unsure as to what that decision could mean for the other clubs in the already dwindling Barwon Darling competition.

One positive innovation the NSWRL must be credited for is the decision to stage all games this season together on the one ground as weekly ‘Magic Rounds’.

This format has been successful in other competitions such as the Proten Community Cup, and is a way to effectively allocate the limited resources and volunteers available in the small communities that compete in Western NSW competitions.

However, the NSWRL has fallen behind the NSW Rugby Union in terms of season length, club numbers, and development officers in the region, after Union authorities went all in with three development officers in the area last year setting up new junior sides in Brewarrina and Nyngan in addition to other established sides in the area.

The NSWRL’s hard-working representative in the region, Jack Ramage, does a lot to keep the competition running each year, and should be commended, but up against the heavily resourced Western Plains Rugby Union, the game needs further funding and boots on the ground if it is to survive well into the future.