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10 teams, 16 rounds: Group 9 draw released for highly anticipated 2025 season

Players and rugby league fans across the Riverina are circling their calendars ahead of the upcoming season after Group Nine released its 2025 competition draw last week.

The fixture, which is the largest since 2019, features 10 teams after the return of Cootamundra this year after a six year absence, and sixteen matches for all clubs.

Round 1 begins with a bang, with a three game slate set down for Saturday April 12, as Brothers host Young at the scene of the latter’s victory last September, Gundagai take on Temora in a rematch of last year’s Qualifying Final, and Albury travel to Tumut.

The action continues the following day when Cootamundra mark their return to the competition when they host the Kangaroos at Les Boyd Oval, while South City and Junee will close the round at Harris Park.

Round 3 will feature a rivalry round of sorts, with Gundagai travelling to Twickenham to play arch rivals Tumut, Albury tackling Brothers, Junee facing Temora, defending premiers Young hosting Cootamundra and South City taking on Kangaroos in a Wagga Derby across the weekend of May 3 and 4.

The reverse matches of the rivalry weekend will be played in Round 12, on July 19 and 20.

 The Grand Final rematch between the Wagga Kangaroos and Young Cherrypickers will take place in Round 10 on Sunday, June15 at the newly renamed GeoHex Stadium in Wagga. The other Wagga Derby, between the Kangaroos and Brothers, will take place in Round 6, before the return clash, to be hosted by the Brothers in Round 15.

Four general byes have been scheduled, to take place over Easter, the June Long Weekend, and the weekends of July 12/13 and August 2/3.

The regular season will conclude on the weekend of August 23/24, with Kangaroos-Tumut, Junee-Albury, South City-Cootamundra matchups on the Saturday, beforeYoung host Temora and Gundagai face Brothers on the final day.

The finals series will begin the following weekend, with a top five system being employed as in previous years.

 The 2025 Group 9 Grand Final will be played on September 21 at GeoHex Stadium in Wagga Wagga.

Group 9 President Grant Fenn said that the competition board is happy with the how the fixture is shaping up, as the league prepares for a season of increased public interest and strong competition in 2025.

“We reckon the draw is a very good draw,” he said.

“It’s come out of the generator and then we’ve put it through to the clubs, and [they] have come back and we’ve looked to address [things like] where they can have gala days with minor league.

“Draws are always difficult but I think Emma Willis has done a very good job on this and we’re looking forward to a good season.”

The biggest highlight of the draw is the scheduled rivalry rounds in rounds three and 12, with Fenn excited to see how the concept goes in attracting large attendances for some of the competition’s biggest matchups.

“It’s all about making sure that we get it out on our socials and advertising and in the papers, to try and really get our crowds there for that,” he said.

“Each of those games are going to be great for their local communities, it’s always a good thing.

“Coming from Tumut, nothing gets our Tumut and Gundagai communities going better than the week when we’ve got our rivalry games on. 

“That’s similar for the other rivalry rounds, some of the towns are nice and close together and they’ve got quite a competition going between each other. 

“We’ll be very much pushing the advertising and hope we get great crowds there.

“One concern of clubs in previous seasons has been the impact of consecutive byes on match fitness, as seen when Temora were eliminated from the finals in straight sets on the back of four consecutive byes in 2023.”

Fenn said that the Group has heard the concerns of clubs on this matter, and as a result, there will be no consecutive byes this season.

“This year we’ve not got positions where we’ve got sides that have got two weeks out of the competition, which is great, no one likes that,” Fenn said.

“Where we’ve got byes, they’re only single byes, they’ve got two weeks out.

“As for the other big talking point of the off-season in the return of Cootamundra, Fenn said that it is great to have the Bulldogs back in the competition.

“Cootamundra historically has been one of the very strong and great Group 9 clubs, it’s been a very strong rugby league town for the Riverina,” he said.

“Having Cootamundra back in is really terrific and we’re really hoping they go well.”

-Tallon Smith

The full draw is listed below:

2025 Group 9 Rugby League season draw:
Round 1 – April 12/13
Brothers v Young (Sat)
Gundagai v Temora (Sat)
Tumut v Albury (Sat)
Cootamundra v Kangaroos
South City v Junee

Round 2 – 26/27 April
Temora v South City (Sat)
Young v Albury (Sat)
Junee v Brothers (Sat)
Cootamundra v Tumut
Gundagai v Kangaroos

Round 3 – 3/4 May
Kangaroos v South City (Sat)
Tumut v Gundagai (Sat)
Albury v Brothers (Sat)
Junee v Temora
Young v Cootamundra

Round 4 – 10/11 May
Cootamundra v Albury (Sat)
Kangaroos v Junee (Sat)
South City v Tumut
Temora v Brothers
Gundagai v Young

Round 5 – 17/18 May
Temora v Kangaroos (Sat)
Tumut v Junee (Sat)
Brothers v Cootamundra (Sat)
Albury v Gundagai
Young v South City

Round 6 – 24/25 May
South City v Albury (Sat)
Junee v Young (Sat)
Gundagai v Cootamundra (Sat)
Kangaroos v Brothers
Tumut v Temora

Round 7 – 31 May/1 June
Tumut v Kangaroos (Sat)
Temora v Young (Sat)
Albury v Junee
Cootamundra v South City
Brothers v Gundagai

Round 8 – 14/15 June
Junee v Cootamundra (Sat)
Tumut v Brothers (Sat)
Temora v Albury
Kangaroos v Young
South City v Gundagai

Round 9 – 21/22 June
Gundagai v Junee (Sat)
Albury v Kangaroos (Sat)
Young v Tumut
Cootamundra v Temora
Brothers v South City

Round 10 – 28/29 June
Kangaroos v Cootamundra (Sat)
Albury v Tumut (Sat)
Temora v Gundagai (Sat)
Young v Brothers
Junee v South City

Round 11 – 5/6 July
Kangaroos v Gundagai (Sat)
Tumut v Cootamundra (Sat)
South City v Temora
Brothers v Junee
Albury v Young

Round 12 – 19/20 July
Gundagai v Tumut (Sat)
Brothers v Albury (Sat)
Temora v Junee
Cootamundra v Young
South City v Kangaroos

Round 13 – 26/27 July
Tumut v South City (Sat)
Junee v Kangaroos (Sat)
Brothers v Temora (Sat)
Young v Gundagai
Albury v Cootamundra

Round 14 – 9/10 August
Kangaroos v Temora (Sat)
Cootamundra v Brothers (Sat)
Gundagai v Albury (Sat)
South City v Young
Junee v Tumut

Round 15 – 16/17 August
Temora v Tumut (Sat)
Brothers v Kangaroos (Sat)
Albury v South City
Young v Junee
Cootamundra v Gundagai

Round 16 – 23/24 August
Kangaroos v Tumut (Sat)
Junee v Albury (Sat)
South City v Cootamundra
Young v Temora
Gundagai v Brothers

Finals
Week 1 – August 30/31
Week 2 – September 6/7
Preliminary Final – September 14
Grand Final – September 21 (GeoHex Stadium, Wagga Wagga).

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