Have your say: Vote for your favourite local rugby league moment in NSW/ACT in 2024
The local rugby league season delivered big time in 2024 with memorable moments and magic memories that will last a lifetime. See the 30 biggest moments and VOTE NOW for your favourite.
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The local rugby league season delivered in spades with famous victories, upsets and magical moments across the state.
We take a look back at 30 of the biggest moments of the local footy season and give you the chance to vote for your favourite.
Read through all moments and vote at the bottom of the story.
PICKERS CEMENT STATUS AMONG BEST
The Maitland Pickers cemented their spot as one of the most dominant teams in regional NSW, taking out the strong Denton Engineering Cup to the tune of 24-4 over Central Newcastle. It marks their third-straight title and their 13th overall with captain Alex Langbridge leading the charge.
ROVERS PRODUCE FINISH FOR THE AGES
The Souths Juniors season finished off in the most dramatic fashion. The Coogee Wombats looked to have secured the A-grade title in their comeback season, leading by 12 points with just minutes to play before the Alexandria Rovers stormed home to force extra time. From there the Rovers scored two tries, including Kareel Phillips sealing their first title since the 1990s.
YOUNG BACK ON TOP
A 33-year premiership drought was ended by the Young Cherrypickers as they held off a determined Wagga Kangaroos to claim the Group 9 title. Jahnayah Freeman proved the hero, scoring the decisive try to secure victory. It marked Wagga’s second-successive defeat in a grand final.
DRAGONS END BALL DROUGHT
St George secured its first SG Ball Cup in 32 years with a convincing 40-18 victory over Canterbury. With an imposing forward pack and a number of players sure to feature in first grade in the years to come, the Dragons clicked on the biggest day of the year after finishing the regular season in second.
BULLDOGS COMPLETE PERFECT SWEEP
Canterbury completed a perfect season in the inaugural staging of the Lisa Fiaola Cup as a fully-fledged competition. The Bulldogs set the benchmark throughout the entire U17s girls season, with their closest victory an 18-point win, capped off with a 36-0 shutout of the Wests Tigers in the grand final.
GERRINGONG GOES BACK-TO-BACK
A near flawless campaign from the Gerringong Lions was capped off with a convincing grand final win over Shellharbour. They suffered defeat just once during the season early on, and from that point went on a 12-game win streak, making it back-to-back premierships and taking their tally to 22 titles.
MASCOT WINS IT AT THE DEATH
Mascot was the premier team throughout the NSWRL Combined Metro Silver competition, but it looked like Guildford would cause the boilover as they led with just minutes to play. That was until Cayla Barlow proved the hero for the Jets, scoring a last-ditch try to complete Mascot’s undefeated season.
WARRIORS MAKE BIG STATEMENT
New Zealand made the perfect start to its tenure in the Harold Matthews Cup, winning the U17s boys competition in season one. It’s hard to believe they were winless coming into their round four clash, and won that on the buzzer after a runaway try to Lennox Tuiloma. They only dropped one game from that point on, taking out a stacked Wests side in the decider.
YOUNG TALENT SHINES IN BATHURST
There was plenty of young talent on display throughout the long weekend at the Koori Knockout with individual brilliance on show from the rising junior male and female talent. From Cherokee Burnett powering through five defenders to give Waterloo U17s girls the win in golden point, through to Bailey Roberts making his case for the fastest player over the weekend in La Perouse’s U17s boys success.
CAMDEN RAMS ALMOST CRASH AT FINAL HURDLE
For the unbeaten Camden Rams, there was more than Macarthur silverware at stake in the decider with The Oaks. And if not for a Jack Miller intercept try in extra time, their Clayton Cup hopes of becoming bush footy’s premier team could have gone up in smoke.
PICTON’S HAND FORCED
Not all the head turning moments in local footy took place between the posts. With a history dating back more than 100 seasons, the Picton Magpies were floored by a gut-wrenching call in round seven. Plagued by injuries, the Macarthur region’s most successful club was forced to shut its Victoria Park gates and forfeit all grades for the first time in more than 40 years.
YOUNG GUN’S WILD DEBUT
With his parents’ blessing, rising Wests Tigers half Alex Isdale strapped on the boots for Oakdale’s top grade. Pitted against former international stars Greg Eastwood and Brad Takairangi, the 17-year-old impressed from the get-go, but got more than he bargained for when he was bumped over after crossing the stripe.
“When I looked back they were all coming in to look after me, I just love these boys,” said Isdale. “They backed me up, I just got out of the way.”
COLLIES’ THREE-PEAT
They were already the Queens of Macarthur Rugby League, but after downing The Oaks in June’s grand final at Campbelltown Stadium, Campbelltown Collegians basked in the glory of a third straight premiership.
BIG GUNS LEAD WESTS TO VICTORY
Boasting former NRL players Tautau Moga, George Jennings and Dane Chisholm, along with rising Illawarra talent Kade Reed, Western Suburbs was able to overcome Thirroul to claim its first title since 2018. It came on the back of Chisholm slotting a clutch two-point field goal in the qualifying final to knock off minor premiers De La Salle.
REDFERN SURVIVES CHAOTIC KNOCKOUT
They had to endure facing the defending premiers in the opening round, but Redfern All Blacks survived and thrived to take out the Koori Knockout Women’s division. They had to get past a strong WAC team on the way to the final, where they came from behind to prevail over Bourke with their veterans leading the way.
EMU PLAINS SEE DOUBLE
A year earlier, Emu Plains claimed the Don Feltis Cup after a gripping grand final. This year, the powerhouse Penrith club was tipped to run amok against the fifth ranked Colyton Colts. In the end, they went back-to-back, but only after reeling in a 12-point second half deficit.
PENRITH SUPERBOOT
Launching a restart over the dead-ball line on the full is nothing new, but Glenmore Park superboot Noah Smith added an extra twist at Windsor in April. After a Wolves try, the winger launched his kick off high into the sky, only to see it come down on the crossbar and bounce out on the full.
ST MARYS KILLER BLOW
Famous Penrith rugby league club St Marys struck late to claim the local women’s title in June. After falling to St Clair in the preliminary rounds, Saints once again found themselves on the ropes until veteran Chelsea Peyroux swayed the result with a stunning solo try.
ST JOEY’S GET IT DONE AGAIN
Last year they secured their first A-grade title in the CJRL, and St Joseph’s backed it up in style with a hard-fought grand final win over Como-Jannali to make it two on the bounce. Logan Dillon was named man of the match with former Shark Daniel Vasquez a key man throughout the year.
ILLAWARRA FLEXES MUSCLES
The Steelers made the preliminary final in Tarsha Gale Cup last year, and were able to learn from that with a perfect season in 2024. They were the clear standouts in the U19s women, putting big scores on their opponents, with their 12-point grand final win over Newcastle the closest result all year. To top it off, Ella Koster, Evie McGrath, Bronte Wilson and Charlotte Basham all went on to play NRLW.
CORRIMAL SWEEPS ASIDE CORRIDOR
It was just the second season of Southern Corridor’s Open Womens Tackle competition, and Corrimal set the benchmark with a flawless campaign to finish undefeated premiers. A mix of youth and experience proved key for the Cougars as they relied on the next player up to help them take a 12-4 grand final win over Penshurst.
FAMILY TIES CREATES DEJA VU FOR NAMBUCCA
There were incredible scenes on the Mid-North Coast as the Nambucca Roosters broke a 28-year drought by taking out the Group 2 premiership with a 31-18 win over Woolgoolga.
But while the achievement in itself was outstanding, the circumstances surrounding it made it even more special.
For starters, the season was only the Roosters’ third back in the senior competition after the club went into recess between 2018 and 2021.
Driven by a slew of locals returning home, the grand final-winning team remarkably featured four players – Tyronne Roberts-Davis, Greg Davis, Logan Jones and Toby Batten – whose fathers were part of the last Nambucca side to win the premiership back in 1996, with coach Warwick Jones leading the team to premiership glory after winning the grand final as a 17-year-old player some 28 years earlier.
ERINA FINALLY BREAK THROUGH
It was a rollercoaster season of the best kind for the Erina Eagles, who overcame a gun field and some strident off-field controversy to win the Central Coast premiership for the first time in 33 years.
The young Eagles side was outstanding in 2024, going through the regular season undefeated to claim the minor premiership before down overturning back-to-back grand final losses to defeat their rivals Toukley 12-6 in a thrilling decider.
But while things went well on the field, they weren’t always smooth off it. Erina first attracted criticism when the club forfeited its round 10 game against Woy Woy, in protest to the purported bad behaviour of Roosters players, fans and officials.
And while that incident triggered a public slanging match, the club became public enemy number one on the Coast after it forfeited all five grades against Toukley in the final round of the season – a decision that led to it being sanctioned and having major semi-final hosting rights taken away.
PERRY GETS PERFECT SEND-OFF
Sportspeople don’t often get fairytale finishes but that was exactly what happened for Ballina club legend Jess Perry after the Seagulls took out the NRRRL premiership in the Northern Rivers.
Retiring at the end of last season after Ballina’s shock loss to Cudgen in the 2023 decider, Perry answered a mid-season SOS to strap the boots back on for the injury-stricken side.
The half/hooker was instrumental in Ballina’s charge towards the minor premiership and then put in a lion-hearted performance as the Seagulls ground out a gritty, gutsy 16-10 grand final victory against Bilambil in front of their home fans at Kingsford Smith Park to go out a winner.
SAWTELL CREATES HISTORY
History was created in Group 2 as Sawtell took out the inaugural women’s tackle league premiership.
Playing in what was already a historic season, the Panthers were a class above the rest in 2024, going through the season undefeated to claim the minor and major premiership.
This golden season was capped off by a 20-12 victory over Woolgoolga in the grand final.
WILSON THE HERO FOR STEELERS
There’s something about Bronte Wilson and scoring in big games. The front rower got over the stripe for the Steelers in their Tarsha Gale Cup grand final victory, and did the same in the Harvey Norman Women’s Premiership decider. Both were against Newcastle with the later coming four minutes from full-time to win the game for Illawarra. It capped off a great year for the 18-year-old who made her NRLW debut.
ROOS PREVAIL IN BATTLE OF QUEANBEYAN
The Canberra Rugby League First Grade grand final was a battle between the two Queanbeyan teams. It was the Kangaroos who came out on top in a hard-fought 18-10 win over the Blues. They were led by former Raider Sam Williams as captain-coach, giving them their second-successive first grade premiership.
SCONE CONTINUES DYNASTY
The Scone Thoroughbreds have maintained their status as one of the greatest bush footy clubs in history after once again taking out the Group 21 title.
With an incredible points difference of 594, the Thoroughbreds went through the season undefeated before defeating Greta-Branxton in the decider to claim their fifth-straight first grade crown.
It was the club’s 31st first grade premiership, in a sign that the Thoroughbreds are the undisputed kings of the Upper Hunter.
COOLAH STUNS IN FAIRYTALE RETURN
Coolah was arguably responsible for the fairytale story of the year as a group of mates returning home helped to revive the Kangaroos after five years in the wilderness.
And while simply getting on the field was a stunning success in itself, the team went on to win the minor and major premiership in the Castlereagh League, breaking a 60-year drought in the process.
That wasn’t the only slice of good news, with the club also fielding a league tag team, the Flyers, who also made it all the way to the grand final.
TURNBULL TAKES ALL BEFORE HER
Before she was leading Wentworthville to a HNWP minor premiership, Caitlin Turnbull was scorching the turf in the nation’s capital for Gungahlin. She scored 26 tries despite playing less than half of the season, including hauls of five and seven tries in consecutive weeks. Turnbull went on to star for the Magpies.
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