Castlereagh League

Castlereagh Rugby League

Sport	Rugby league
Formerly known as	Group 14
Inaugural season	1949
Ceased	1999
Re-formed	2001
Number of teams	10
Country	Australia
Premiers	Gulgong (2023)
Most titles	Coonamble (18 titles)
Website	Castlereagh RL Homepage

The Castlereagh League (also known as the Castlereagh Cup and Group 14) is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. For all intents and purposes the competition is effectively the Group 14 Rugby League senior competition, and the league has re-obtained Group status as of 2023, but will not revert to the Group 14 name for branding reasons.

Teams

45km
30miles

Narromine

Gulgong

Coonabarabran

Baradine

Binnaway

Coonamble

Dunedoo

Cobar

Gilgandra

  

Locations of the Castlereagh Cup clubs.

The following clubs are fielding teams in the 2023 Christie Hood Castlereagh Cup:

Castlereagh Cup Clubs	Moniker	Premierships	Premiership Years	1st	Res	LLT	Youth
First Grade Clubs
Baradine	Magpies	10	1951–55, 1968–69, 1979, 1993, 1995	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Cobar	Roosters	1	2022	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Coolah	Kangaroos	2	1963, 1965	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Coonabarabran	Unicorns	13	1950, 1961–62, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1980, 1988, 1990, 1994, 2019	Yes	Yes	No	No
Coonamble	Bears	18	1949, 1957–59, 1971, 1974, 1978, 1982, 1991, 1996, 1999, 2002–03, 2005–09	Yes	No	Yes	No
Gilgandra	Panthers	11	1956, 1981, 1986–87, 1997, 2001, 2011, 2013, 2016–18	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gulgong	Terriers	1	2015	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
Narromine	Jets	0	None	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Lower Grade Clubs
Binnaway	Bombshells	1	2004	No	No	Yes	Yes
Dunedoo	Swans	3	1967, 2014, 2020	No	Yes	Yes	No

Former Teams

Team	Moniker	Notes	Premierships
Competed in Castlereagh Cup era
Gulargambone	Galahs	Folded 2008	None
Trangie	Magpies	Folded 2022	None
Warren	Bulldogs	Folded 2018	2010, 2012
Group 14 era
Mendooran	Tigers	Folded	1983–85
Mudgee	Tigers	Moved to Group 10	1960, 1973, 1975–76
Merriwa	Magpies	Moved to Group 21	None
Nyngan	Tigers	Moved to Group 11 Rugby League	1989
Orana	Googars	Folded	1992
Walgett	Dragons	Moved to Barwon Darling Rugby League	None

Clubs Timeline

Castlereagh Cup past & present participants, First Grade and Ladies League Tag.

History

Castlereagh Cup Grand Finals

Season	Teams	Premiers	Score	Runners-up	Minor Premiers
2001	8	Gilgandra	36–4	Coonamble
2002	8	Coonamble	36–26	Dunedoo
2003	5	Coonamble	70–24	Baradine	Coonamble
2004	7	Binnaway	32–26	Gulargambone	Binnaway
2005	6	Coonamble	34–24	Binnaway	Coonamble
2006	6	Coonamble	44–22	Warren	Coonamble
2007	5	Coonamble	36–16	Baradine	Coonamble
2008	5	Coonamble	40–32	Baradine	Coonamble
2009	6	Coonamble	32–26	Gilgandra	Gilgandra
2010	7	Warren	46–20	Coonamble	Warren
2011	7	Gilgandra	28–24	Warren	Warren
2012	7	Warren	47–32	Coonabarabran	Coonabarabran
2013	8	Gilgandra	30–24	Coonabarabran	Coonabarabran (26 points)
2014	8	Dunedoo	32–12	Coonamble	Dunedoo (26 points)
2015	6	Gulgong	40–14	Gilgandra	Coonamble (26 points)
2016	9	Gilgandra	28–22	Gulgong	Coonamble (32 points)
2017	8	Gilgandra	46–10	Coonamble	Gilgandra (36 points)
2018	8	Gilgandra	31-30	Gulgong	Gulgong (34 points)
2019	9	Coonabarabran	32–22	Gilgandra	Coonabarabran (29 points)
2020	5	Dunedoo	16–10	Gilgandra	Dunedoo (18 points)
2021 Season Cancelled before finals due to COVID-19 lockdowns in NSW
2022	7	Cobar	28–26	Gilgandra	Narromine (28 points)
2023	9	Gulgong	10–4	Cobar	Gulgong (42 points)

Group 14

Group 14 is a junior rugby league competition in central New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. The Castlereagh Cup is mostly made up of Group 14 clubs, is the official successor to the Group, and is called Group 14 on occasion. The Group 14 name is still applied to the junior competition.

Current Teams

• Baradine Junior Sports Club
• Coolah Junior Sports Club
• Coonabarabran JRLFC
• Coonamble JRLFC
• Dunedoo Junior Rugby League and Netball Association
• Gilgandra Junior Rugby League and Netball Association
• Gulgong Junior Rugby League and Netball Club
• Walgett Dragons JRLC (Seniors play in Barwon Darling)

Former Structure

The competition was formerly divided into Eastern and Western divisions. The following clubs fielded teams in the 2006 Group 14 Eastern junior competition:

• Binnaway (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Coolah (rejoined as of 2024)
• Dunedoo (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Gulgong (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Merriwa (fields a senior team in Group 21)

While these clubs fielded teams in the 2006 Group 14 Western junior competition:

• Baradine (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Coonabarabran (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Coonamble (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Gilgandra (fields a senior team in the Castlereagh Cup)
• Nyngan (fields a senior team in Group 11)

Group 14 Senior Grand Finals

Group 14 Grand Finals (Recorded 1949-2000)

From The Vault on Wayback Machine

1949 Coonamble Bears defeated Baradine Magpies

1950 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Coonamble Bears 14-0

1951 Baradine Magpies defeated

1952 Baradine Magpies defeated

1953 Baradine Magpies defeated Mudgee 9-2

1954 Baradine Magpies defeated Coonabarabran

1955 Baradine Magpies defeated

1956 Gilgandra Panthers defeated Binnaway 13-0

1957 Coonamble Bears defeated Baradine Magpies 11-4

1958 Coonamble Bears defeated Mudgee Tigers 8-5

1959 Coonamble Bears defeated Mudgee Tigers

1960 Mudgee Tigers defeated Coonamble Bears 11-10

1961 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated

1962 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated

1963 Coolah defeated Gilgandra Panthers 3-2

1964 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Gilgandra Panthers 10-7

1965 Coolah defeated Mudgee Tigers 9-5

1966 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Baradine

1967 Dunedoo Swans (18 all at fulltime) defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 16-8

1968 Baradine Magpies defeated Dunedoo Swans 17-10

1969 Baradine Magpies defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 10-9

1970 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Gulgong Bulldogs 22-7

1971 Coonamble Bears defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 31-4

1972 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Baradine Magpies 26-8

1973 Mudgee Tigers defeated Coonamble Bears 8-6

1974 Coonamble Bears defeated Dunedoo Swans 19-14

1975 Mudgee Tigers defeated Baradine Magpies 15-10

1976 Mudgee Tigers defeated Gilgandra Panthers 33-17

1977 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Gilgandra Panthers

1978 Coonamble Bears defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 13-10

1979 Baradine Magpies defeated Gilgandra Panthers

1980 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Gilgandra Panthers 16-15

1981 Gilgandra Panthers defeated Baradine Magpies 19-5

1982 Coonamble Bears defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 16-8

1983 Mendooran defeated Baradine Magpies 40-22

1984 Mendooran defeated Coonamble Bears 64-4

1985 Mendooran defeated Cobar 24-20

1986 Gilgandra Panthers defeated Cobar 14-6

1987 Gilgandra Panthers(16-all at full-time) defeated Nyngan Tigers 23-16

1988 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Dunedoo Swans 38-18

1989 Nyngan Tigers defeated Coonabarabran Unicorns 37-12

1990 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Orana Googars 32-22

1991 Coonamble Bears defeated Baradine Magpies 30-20

1992 Orana Googars defeated Coonamble Bears 30-20

1993 Baradine Magpies defeated Coonamble Bears 16-14

1994 Coonabarabran Unicorns defeated Coonamble Bears 22-18

1995 Baradine Magpies defeated Coonamble Bears 40-14

1996 Coonamble Bears defeated Nyngan Tigers 36-28

1997 Gilgandra Panthers defeated Walgett Dragons 33-20

1998 COMPETITION IN RECESS

1999 Coonamble Bears defeated Nyngan Tigers 29-24

2000 COMPETITION IN RECESS - CASTLEREAGH CUP STARTS 2001

See also

• Rugby League Competitions in Australia

External links and Sources

• Latest Castlereagh Cup table – from Sporting Pulse
• Castlereagh Cup on Country Rugby League's official site
• Rugby League Week at State Library of NSW Research and Collections
• Group 14 on Country Rugby League's official site
• Rugby League Week at State Library of NSW Research and Collections