Now in its fourth year, there has been plenty of anticipation surrounding who will take out the Peter “Parra” Montgomery Battler of the Year for season 2025.

After being renamed in honour of the late Hay and Albury rugby league icon following his passing in October, a shield was yesterday unveiled to Parra’s family and members of the Albury Thunder club prior to today’s announcement.

The award, the most prestigious presented by Battlers For Bush Footy, recognises the most “outstanding contribution to the development and conservation of rugby league in a regional location”, in line with the organisation’s mission statement, which is to “positively promote and share the spirit of the game of rugby league in regional New South Wales and beyond.” 

And today, after two weeks of deliberations, Battlers For Bush Footy is proud to announce that the 2025 Peter “Parra” Montgomery Battler of the Year is…

Thomas Besgrove – President, Coolamon Raiders JRLC

A local school teacher and former South City Bulls and Dubbo CYMS star, Besgrove was recognised for his work in founding the Coolamon Raiders JRLC in 2023, and the club’s continued growth to four teams this season.

Through his work in establishing and helping to grow the Raiders and in the process restarting rugby league in Coolamon, Besgrove was adjudged as having made the most outstanding contribution to his local club among all of the volunteers highlighted to Battlers For Bush Footy in 2025.

Speaking to Battlers shortly after the presentation of the award, Besgrove said it was both humbling and a “huge honour” to receive the accolade.

“I’m not going to lie, it is awesome to receive such a great award,” he said.

“I keep an eye on the page, so looking at all the previous winners, it’s pretty humbling.

“I will say [however] something that all the other volunteers would say, you certainly don’t undertake any type of role or position as a volunteer for the accolades, you do it for the kids and you do it for your community, and that’s something I’ve always tried to do.

“Congratulations to the other nominees.” 

Despite the award being a form of individual recognition, Besgrove said that he certainly wasn’t alone in starting junior footy in Coolamon, with the Raiders President quick to thank the people and organisations who helped him along the way.

“It was tough, but it’s hard to fully say that too, because I had and still have a very good committee of people who genuinely care about the town first and foremost, but also about the kids, so that was huge,” he said.

“Obviously my wife was incredibly supportive, there would have been no Coolamon Raiders and I wouldn’t have been able to drive it the way I could without her.

“I’ve got to give a big shout out to the NRL, New South Wales Rugby League, and to Coolamon Shire Council, because without those three, it doesn’t happen.

“With all that support, it made things a lot easier.”

A premiership-winning first grader at both CYMS and South City, rugby league has been a part of Besgrove’s life since his early days growing up in Dunedoo.

That positive influence the game had within his own life inspired him to start the Coolamon junior club, giving his own children and others in the town the opportunity to play the game without having to travel into Wagga or Junee.

Although he downplays his role in the success he experienced in his own career, the newly titled Battler of the Year said that the award ranks highly amongst his achievements in the game, especially given the hard work behind the scenes that goes into volunteering within the sport compared to playing.

“In fairness to those competitions and those teams, I was certainly the support cast to some very brilliant players and brilliant teams in Group 9 for [South City] Bulls and Group 11 for [Dubbo] CYMS, I was absolutely a battler in every sense of the word in those sides,” he joked.

“It [rugby league] is one of those things that to a degree, most people can get out and play.

“You hope that there is an opportunity for kids and people to play, and I lived that as a kid and loved every minute of it.

“It is harder when you are a part of a family and you’ve got your own [kids] to volunteer.

“So [the award] sits pretty high up there, and some great winners beforehand certainly push it up there.”

With the junior club now flying as it prepares to enter its first mod league teams in the form of under 10s next season, talk in Coolamon has shifted towards re-establishing a senior club.

In a show of his dedication to the game, Besgrove has been one of the driving forces behind organising the initial meetings for that venture as well, with a view to form a working committee and further expand the sporting opportunities on offer in Coolamon.

“One of the best things about living in Coolamon is the strong sporting culture that it has,” Besgrove said.

“We’re very fortunate as a town to have an awesome AFL setup in Coolamon Hoppers, awesome touch footy, we’ve got golf, tennis, cricket, all the above, so kids have plenty of options.

“Being able to provide rugby league gives another option within that.

“The other thing now with the talk of the seniors is that it hopefully gives some of our league kids something to aspire to so if they are looking up going ‘I would like to play for Coolamon Raiders going forward’.”

“That would be brilliant”.

However he did admit there might yet be another catch to the two-time Group 9 premiership winner coming out of retirement.

“If you spoke to my wife, I’m not sure she would be quite as impressed about this part, because it would mean that I get to play again,” he laughed.

In winning the 2025 Battler of the Year, Besgrove narrowly beat out the other five finalists in Nicole Collins (TLU Sharks), Mikey Dynon (Bendigo Crushers), Stephen Howse (Cootamundra Bulldogs) and runner-up Stevan Cetinich (Orara Valley Axemen).

Battlers For Bush Footy would like to again congratulate all of the other nominees for their selection as one of the five finalists for the prestigious award.

Finalist Write-Up: Thomas Besgrove (Coolamon)

For a long time, Coolamon Shire was the missing piece of the rugby league puzzle in NSW.

The only local government area north of the Sturt Highway without a team, the region has always been a strange pocket of Aussie Rules heartland north of the Barassi Line.

Though there had been two attempts at senior footy in the 20th century, the first beginning in 1924 and the second being the famous Coolamon Raiders who played in five and won two Kennedy Shield Grand Finals in the 1980s and 1990s, the town was rugby league desert throughout the 2000s and 2010s, with keen players forced to travel into Wagga.

Enter Thomas Besgrove, a local school teacher originally from Dunedoo who admitted he “didn’t know where Coolamon was” before moving there.

A two-time premiership winner with South City in 2016 and 2017, Besgrove was a more than handy footballer in his day, playing in the halves and as a utility.

After retiring from local footy to raise a family, Besgrove wanted his three kids to be able to have the opportunity to play the game he loved growing up.

However, with the half-hour back and forth trip to Wagga for training and games being a pain point, Besgrove decided to do what no one had tried before: start a junior rugby league club in Coolamon.

After launching the club, named the Raiders after its past senior side, and with a little help getting started from the Raiders Old Boys, a thriving junior footy scene grew quickly.

The club fielded four teams, under 6s, 7s, 8s and 9s, in just its second year of operations.

Now, the club is preparing to welcome its first mod league team, an under 10s side, next year.

The junior Although he is now assisted by a hard-working committee, without Besgrove’s passion, rugby league in Coolamon would have remained an thing of the past, little more than a footnote in history.

Thus, Battlers is pleased to announce that Thomas Besgrove from Coolamon Raiders JRLC is one of the five finalists for the 2025 Battler of the Year.