Group 1 Rugby League

Group 1 Rugby League

Sport	Rugby league
Ceased	2005
Replaced by	Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League
Country	Australia
Website	Group 1 Juniors at SportsTG

Group 1 Rugby League was a rugby league competition held in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The group, however, still runs a junior rugby league competition. When the Group 18-Gold Coast competition dissolved in 2005, the New South Wales sides joined together with Group 1 to form a divisional league, Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (NRRRL). Group 18 also still holds its own individual junior rugby league competition.

Seniors

Main article: Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League

The Group 1 Senior Rugby League Premiership amalgamated with Group 18 Rugby League in 2005 to form the Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League, and was thus discontinued in its own right.

Juniors

Current Teams

The following clubs are affiliated with Group 1 juniors, but run senior teams in the NRRRL competition:

• Ballina Seagulls
• Casino RSM
• Clarence Coast Magpies (as Lower Clarence in NRRRL)
• Kyogle Turkeys
• Lismore Marist Brothers Rams

The following clubs are affiliated with Group 1 juniors, but run senior teams in the Group 2 Rugby League competition:

• Grafton Ghosts
• South Grafton Rebels

Former Teams

The following clubs fielded junior teams in Group 1 competitions earlier in the 2010s

• Evans Head Bombers
• Northern United Dirrawongs
• Lennox Head Dolphins
• South Lismore Rabbits
• Upper Clarence

Notable Juniors

Ballina Seagulls

• Frank Curran (1931–1937 South Sydney Rabbitohs)
• Mitchell Aubusson (2007–present Sydney Roosters)
• James Aubusson (2007–2010 Melbourne Storm & Sydney Roosters)
• James Roberts (2011–present South Sydney Rabbitohs, Penrith Panthers, Gold Coast Titans & Brisbane Broncos)
• Caleb Binge (2014 Gold Coast Titans)
• Brian Kelly (2017–present Manly Sea Eagles & Gold Coast Titans)
• Nick Meaney (2018–present Newcastle Knights & Canterbury Bulldogs)
• Tyrone Roberts (2011–present Newcastle Knights, Warrington Wolves & Gold Coast Titans)

Casino RSM

• Matt King
• Brian Smith
• Tony Smith
• Ben Kennedy
• Albert Torrens
• John Elford
• Cody Walker (rugby league)

Clarence Coast Magpies (Lower Clarence Coast Magpies)

• Luke Douglas
• Tony Priddle
• Nathan Brown
• Daine Laurie (born 1999)
• Daniel Wagon
• Kevin Plummer

Kyogle Turkeys

• Ken Nagas – Former Canberra Raiders (1992–2002) player.
• Nigel Roy – Former Illawarra Steelers (1993–94), North Sydney Bears (1995–99), Northern Eagles (2000) & London Broncos (2001–04) player.
• Will Mathews – Former Gold Coast Titans (2008–11, 2018–19) & St George Illawarra Dragons (2012–17) player.
• Shannon Walker – Former Gold Coast Titans (2008–10) & Australia Rugby 7’s (2012–17) player.
• Jone Macilai – Former Fiji Bati (2008–09) player.
• David Grant – Former Canberra Raiders (1982–85) Balmain Tigers (1978–1981), Eastern Suburbs Roosters (1977) & South Sydney Rabbitohs (1976) player.
• Paul Doolan – Former St George Dragons (1990), Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (1991–93) and Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks (1994–95) player

Lismore Marist Brothers Rams

• Andrew King (rugby league)
• Chris King (rugby league)
• David Mead (rugby league)

First Grade Premierships

1964–1983 (Web Archive)

From The Vault on Wayback Machine

1961 Ballina def Casino RSM * Ballina also won the Clayton Cup.

1962 Casino RSM 19–14 Ballina

1963 Casino RSM 8–0 Woodburn

1964 Casino RSM

1965 Casino RSM

1966 Lismore Marist Brothers def Casino RSM

1967 Casino RSM * Casino RSM also won the Clayton Cup.

1968 Casino RSM 32–10 South Lismore

1969 (Two competitions) Ballina 7–3 Casino RSM & 1969 Mallanganee 23–15 Baryulgil

1970 Grafton 12–5 South Grafton

1971 Kyogle+ 14–9 Lower Clarence

1972  ???

1973 Lower Clarence 27–13 Lismore Marist Brothers

1974 Western Suburbs 24–0 South Lismore-Woodburn

1975 South Grafton 17–8 South Lismore-Evans Head

1976 Casino RSM 22–7 South Grafton

1977 Grafton 16–14 South Grafton

1978 South Lismore-Evans Head 18–14 Casino RSM

1979 Casino RSM 33–10 South Grafton

1980 Lismore Marist Brothers 24–8 South Grafton

1981 Lismore Marist Brothers 20–2 Western Suburbs-Alstonville

1982 Ballina 14–4 Casino RSM

1983 Kyogle 14–12 Lower Clarence

1984–present (Grand Final results compiled from scores published in the Rugby League Week.)

Season	Grand Final Information			Minor Premiers
	Premiers	Score	Runners-up
1984	Lower Clarence Mapgies	25–8	Grafton Ghosts
1985	Casino Cougars	17–10	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	Casino Cougars
1986	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	19–14	South Grafton Rebels	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams
1987	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	22–6	Kyogle Turkeys	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams
1988	Grafton Ghosts	14–8	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	Grafton Ghosts
1989	Ballina Seagulls	12–10	Grafton Ghosts	Ballina Seagulls
1990	Casino Cougars	38–29	Kyogle Turkeys	Casino Cougars
1991	Grafton Ghosts	29–14	Ballina Seagulls	Grafton Ghosts
1992	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	6–4	Ballina Seagulls
1993	Ballina Seagulls	12–8	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams
1994	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	13–6	South Grafton Rebels	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams
1995	Byron Bay Red Devils	17–10	South Grafton Rebels
1996	Byron Bay Red Devils	11–10	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams
1997	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	20–10	Ballina Seagulls
1998	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	46–6	Byron Bay Red Devils
1999	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	29–16	Casino Cougars
2000	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	34–10	Byron Bay Red Devils
2001	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	26–2	Ballina Seagulls
2002	Grafton Ghosts	22–20	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	Grafton Ghosts
2003	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	42–41	South Grafton Rebels
2004	Mullumbimby Giants	14–12	Lismore Marist Brothers Rams	Mullumbimby Giants

External Links and Sources

• Rugby League Week at State Library of NSW Research and Collections