The Gunnedah Junior Rugby League Club has enjoyed a fine first year in the Tamworth competition, with two minor premierships and imminent grand final appearances for the Bulldogs youngsters.
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The club formed in 1958 and has been going strong ever since, but playing in the Tamworth competition has proved a resounding success.
The move has offered the Bulldogs juniors greater exposure to competition and differing ability levels, and players have also had greater access to representative trials.
Six Gunnedah players were selected to trial in the representative teams in the 9-12 years age division, while the achievements of the 10- and 12-year age squads have been outstanding.
Both of those squads earned the minor premiership, and cemented their place on grand final day with thumping victories last weekend.
Gunnedah’s 10s beat Collegians 48-4 while Gunnedah’s 12s beat Manilla 44-10.
Gunnedah’s 15s and 16s remain in contention for grand final berths, with both teams contesting Farrer this weekend to determine who qualifies for the big day.
Gunnedah’s 15s and 16s each finished the regular season in second place, and the 13s came fourth while the 11s and 14s came fifth.
The Tamworth grand final will be staged at the Tamworth rugby league fields on Saturday September 10, and it is hoped that Gunnedah fans will trek to Tamworth to cheer on the young Bulldogs.
The Gunnedah grand final day will be held on Sunday September 18, and will start with the teams marching at Kitchener Oval.
The grand finals for 5-6s and 7-8s will then take place, and games will be played by other participating squads.
Many thanks go to the coaches, parents and players, as well as sponsors First National Real Estate and Upper Namoi Cotton Growers.
* Meanwhile the NRL has been left with egg on its face after agreeing to lock in this year's draw before a ball was kicked this season.
In an embarrassing repercussion of the NRL's decision to neglect Fox Sports from its original broadcast negotiations with Channel Nine, the top-of-the-table showdown for the minor premiership between Melbourne and Cronulla won't be shown on free-to-air TV this weekend.
The NRL's approach to negotiate a broadcast rights deal with the Nine Network without including Fox Sports upset the pay TV giants, who were then forced to negotiate a deal of their own with Nine to win back the rights to Saturday night football.
As part of the compromise, Fox Sports wanted to pencil in the final six rounds of the season as far back as last year, creating the dilemma the NRL faces on the final weekend of the regular season with non-pay TV subscribers denied the best matches of the round.
