Southern Inland Rugby 2025

[Maulalltheway]

What a sad day for Albury, SIRU, and rugby in general.

Condolences to family and friends.
Rest easy House

Vale James Kora

 

[yourmatesam]

Sad doesn’t cut it does it.

Such a good man who had an immense impact on anyone he met.

Vale House

 

[Up the Jumper]

Warning of bigger penalties becomes reality as bumper suspension dished out​

Rosivela Nagatarogo's return from suspension only lasted around two minutes.
However, they will be the last minutes of his season after the Wagga City forward was on the end of another red card in the win over Tumut earlier this month.
Nagatarogo was the first player to be punished after aggravated sanctions were brought in by Southern Inland, looking to reduce the amount of foul play under rules 9.12 and 9.13, which refer to physical or verbal abuse, including striking, biting, stamping, contact with the eyes, tripping or kicking, as well as dangerous tackles.
As such, after being found guilty of a mid-range striking charge at the judiciary on Wednesday night, Nagatarogo was given a nine-game suspension.

Taking into account the week already served after being unable to front the judiciary last week, with four rounds left in the season, and only a maximum of three weeks of finals, Nagatarogo's suspension will carry over until 2026.
It's a blow for the unbeaten Boiled Lollies heading into another grand final rematch with Waratahs.


Wagga City scored a 31-21 win when the teams met earlier this season and coach Tyson McLachlan expects another big clash in the top-of-the-table showdown at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.
"We're doing alright at the moment, we're still winning games which always helps, but we've still got a lot of improvement to come," McLachlan said.
"The boys are fired up for this weekend as it's always a big game against 'Tahs so it should be good."

Wagga City hasn't really been pushed since their last clash with Waratahs, with an average winning margin for 40 points in three games since then.
However, defensively McLachlan is looking for a stronger performance after conceding three tries against winless Albury last week and 31 points the week prior at Tumut.
"Our defence needs to pick up a bit," he said.
"Just our first-man contact has been slipping off a bit lately so we've put a big emphasis on that in the last couple of training runs and really driven it into the boys.
"Our attack comes off the back of that."
Wagga City will welcome back Samuela Donu, Josh Daudravuni, Rory Sheard and Thomas Laban for the clash with Waratahs.
McLachlan is also a chance of playing his first game since injuring his knee late last season.
He's hoping it's the start of easing some injury problems.
"We had 13 players who have started first grade missing last week, but we get about four back so we're still looking alright," McLachlan said.
Meanwhile, Waratahs will be without winger Harry Hayes for the big clash after his case at the judiciary was adjourned after receiving a red card late in the big win over Ag College on Saturday.

He is suspended until the case can be heard.
Hayes is the only player out of the Waratahs line up with Jack Clancy returning at five-eighth which sees Harry Tyson shift back to the centres and pushes Liam Rowntree onto the wing.
Meanwhile Ag College will be desperate to get a win on the board to keep in contact with the top four when they tackle Reddies at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.
Ag College is now eight points behind Griffith, who hosts winless Albury on Saturday.

 

[Up the Jumper]

Southern Inland- Round 11 Results​

Men's

Ag College 25 d Reddies 17
Griffith 111 d Albury 3
Waratahs 47 d Wagga City 30

Women's​

Waratahs 46 d Wagga City 21
Griffith 60 d Albury 5
Ag College 46 d Reddies 5

Wagga City were a player down from the 30 second mark of yesterday's clash and their undefeated run comes to an end - see Article below​

​

​

Gone in 27 seconds: early red card sets tone for top-of-the-table clash​

clash​

Waratahs' Harry Tyson slips out of a tackle by Wagga City's Augustine Malatai at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday. Picture by Bernard Humphreys


Red card trouble found Wagga City again in another big clash with Waratahs.
However, this time they weren't able to defend it.
After playing the entire second half of their last clash with their crosstown rivals with 14 players and still managing to come away with the win in round six, the prospect of playing all but 27 seconds down a man proved too big an obstacle.
Instead Waratahs became the first team to get the better Wagga City this season, taking a 47-30 victory at Conolly Rugby Complex on Saturday.
Winger Josh Daudravuni's day was over almost before it began after being dismissed after 27 seconds of play for a high tackle on Waratahs fullback Lachie Day.


It set the tone for Waratahs to move past their rivals and into top spot on the ladder.

However with a bye to come, and their rivals losing a player early, coach Nick McCarthy doesn't want to look too much into the win.
"It's great to get the result, but it's probably hard to take much out of it considering City lost a player to a red card 30 seconds into the game," McCarthy said.
"We were playing against an extra guy for the whole game so it's obviously good to win the game, and great for our progress forward but we won't take too much out of it.
"We're obviously on top now, but it doesn't mean much when we have a bye coming and City still have three games.


"From here we just have to keep building, keep fixing the errors in our game and discipline today when we had ascendancy was pretty lacking.
"We gave a lot of piggyback penalties away and when City gets some good football they are very difficult to stop. We invited them into our own half a lot and a good side like that you can't give chances to so we've got plenty to fix but there's a lot of good signs too.

"We used the ball well on attack, created some good opportunities, our scrum and our line out were both really good so we'll bank that win, learn a bit from it and move on to the next few weeks."

Day recovered from the high shot to finish with 27 points for the clash with a try, five conversions from as many attempts and four penalty goals.

Tom Hallam led the way for Waratahs with their captain crossing for a double and the halfback's ability to move the ball quickly and make the right choices helped them gain an advantage.
Daudravuni will front the Southern Inland judiciary this week after his red card.
It comes after Boiled Lollies had forward Rosivela Nagatarogo's season ended on Wednesday night after being given a nine-game suspension.
Waratahs winger Harry Hayes will also head to the judiciary after having his case adjourned while Griffith's Feleti Faigafa will also need to appear after seeing red after two yellow cards in the big win over Albury.
The Blacks moved back into second with a 111-3 victory over their winless rivals at Exies Oval on Saturday.
Tuukalikali Vaipulu scored a hat-trick in the big.
Meanwhile, Ag College scored a crucial win over crosstown rivals Reddies to keep their finals hopes alive.
Aggies came from behind in the second half to take a 35-17 win at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.
However the bonus-point win still has them six points outside the top four ahead of a crucial clash with Tumut at Beres Ellwood Oval on Saturday.
Not only do Aggies need to down the Bulls, who now occupy fourth after the bye, but still need other results to go their way with a clash against Wagga City ahead.

 

[Up the Jumper]

Southern Inland Rugby Union​

Round 12 Results

Men's​

Tumut 33 d Ag College 24
Waratahs 98 d Albury 0
City d Wagga Reddies ( Forfeit)

Women's​

Reddies 10 d Wagga City 7
Ag College 12 d Tumut 7
Waratahs 48 d Albury 12

####- According to the Daily Advertiser Wagga Reddies forfeited their 1st Grade match against City yesterday after playing both 2nd & 3rd Grade ??
Does anyone out there know what is going on with Reddies ? - That is disappointing for City

 

[paul bristow]

How long can we expect these clubs to turn up and get flogged by a hundred ( or sometimes more ) Jumper. Especially with a lot of the players having already played a previous game or games.

 

[Blowthewhistle]

Been reading the forums for a while but my first post.
As a rugby person the CSU forfeit yesterday has immense ramifications for the SIRU competition. Wagga City were changed and warming up, even the referee was changed and ready, when the forfeit was made during the women’s game. City then had to stop charging at the gate and tried to sell what they could at the canteen, then there were the mental health organisations present as well as the celebration of Fijian Rugby.
But the real question is the integrity of the comp. How is the points differential going to impact the final standing on the ladder?
- City ended their game against Albury early, could have possibly put on another 40 points if they played it out and taken it to 180 points plus
- Tahs were allowed to play out their game against CSU to blow out to 147 points
- City has had that opportunity taken away with a CSU forfeit, so their result is capped at 30 points I believe.
- So clubs positions regarding the ladder if dependant on points differential can’t be considered equitable.
So if by some chance Tahs and City finish equal on the ladder, then points differential will dictate minor premiers, hosting rights for the semis and the financial benefits of that. How is that fair?

Long term SIRU can’t afford to lose another first grade team. And if you look at the competition‘s players if it werent for the Pacific Islanders most clubs would have trouble being competitive Or even participating.
But even that is problematic, as the number of islanders from Cootamundra, Leeton and Narrandera and probably Tumut as well (I can’t confirm that though) playing for Wagga clubs isn’t helping By concentrating the talent.
Tahs get hammered by the City forwards and scrum in Round 1, next week 2 Fijian Leeton boys are rolled out in Tahs First Grade. That’s on top of them getting pretty much every player who moves to town with Shute Shield experience.

I‘m really glad I’m not on the board trying to figure this mess out.

 

[paul bristow]

Point 1 Whistle. I said on this forum on July 7 that given the situation with Reddies and Steamers
this year points for and against shouldn’t be used in ladder calculations during 2025 season. It’s encouraging a feeding frenzy and adding to the problems that are forcing these two struggling clubs to the wall. Playing out a game to the possible score differentIal of 180 points is surely cold and calculated. Point 2. These players imported from other communities into Wagga obviously aren’t going to Reddies or Aggies.

 

[oldandcranky]

The solution is in the past, let’s see if the board can look beyond their own clubs to go back to a mid year split comp.

 

[Up the Jumper]

Been reading the forums for a while but my first post.
As a rugby person the CSU forfeit yesterday has immense ramifications for the SIRU competition. Wagga City were changed and warming up, even the referee was changed and ready, when the forfeit was made during the women’s game. City then had to stop charging at the gate and tried to sell what they could at the canteen, then there were the mental health organisations present as well as the celebration of Fijian Rugby.
But the real question is the integrity of the comp. How is the points differential going to impact the final standing on the ladder?
- City ended their game against Albury early, could have possibly put on another 40 points if they played it out and taken it to 180 points plus
- Tahs were allowed to play out their game against CSU to blow out to 147 points
- City has had that opportunity taken away with a CSU forfeit, so their result is capped at 30 points I believe.
- So clubs positions regarding the ladder if dependant on points differential can’t be considered equitable.
So if by some chance Tahs and City finish equal on the ladder, then points differential will dictate minor premiers, hosting rights for the semis and the financial benefits of that. How is that fair?

Long term SIRU can’t afford to lose another first grade team. And if you look at the competition‘s players if it werent for the Pacific Islanders most clubs would have trouble being competitive Or even participating.
But even that is problematic, as the number of islanders from Cootamundra, Leeton and Narrandera and probably Tumut as well (I can’t confirm that though) playing for Wagga clubs isn’t helping By concentrating the talent.
Tahs get hammered by the City forwards and scrum in Round 1, next week 2 Fijian Leeton boys are rolled out in Tahs First Grade. That’s on top of them getting pretty much every player who moves to town with Shute Shield experience.

I‘m really glad I’m not on the board trying to figure this mess out.

You make a lot of valid points BTW and unfortunately it has been a messy & disappointing season as far as some of the results and margins are concerned.
Southern Inland produced a Strategic Plan in 2023 with the main feature being competitive matches and more numbers playing Rugby - has that happened - Probably Not.
The future of both Wagga Reddies and Albury is vitally important to the future existence of a Premier Rugby Competition in our region because there is definitely going to be no chance of neighbouring South West Clubs joining SIRU.
I hope City win the minor premiership without having to see that position decided by For & Against because of what you have highlighted in your post.
No doubt we will see some great Rugby during the Finals but week in and week out there has only been 1 highlight match each Saturday which is a bit disturbing.
Let's hope for some positive developments in the Future

As for "oldandcranky's" post how would you do a Draw with the Clubs we have got at the moment in our Competition organising a Mid - season split ?

 

[oldandcranky]

You make a lot of valid points BTW and unfortunately it has been a messy & disappointing season as far as some of the results and margins are concerned.
Southern Inland produced a Strategic Plan in 2023 with the main feature being competitive matches and more numbers playing Rugby - has that happened - Probably Not.
The future of both Wagga Reddies and Albury is vitally important to the future existence of a Premier Rugby Competition in our region because there is definitely going to be no chance of neighbouring South West Clubs joining SIRU.
I hope City win the minor premiership without having to see that position decided by For & Against because of what you have highlighted in your post.
No doubt we will see some great Rugby during the Finals but week in and week out there has only been 1 highlight match each Saturday which is a bit disturbing.
Let's hope for some positive developments in the Future

As for "oldandcranky's" post how would you do a Draw with the Clubs we have got at the moment in our Competition organising a Mid - season split ?

1st and 2nds stick together 3rd Grade comp stand alone.
Existing 7 teams plus Hay/Leeton/Deni who decide who’s playing 1st grade, 2nds 3rds via Preseason playoff at start of the year.Unless they field 2 grades.

1st round 8 clubs play each other (7 games)
2nd round split Top 4 Premier and Bottow 4 Plate Comp play each other twice. (6 games)
3rd grade open to all 3rd grade clubs and loser of preseason playoff.

Top 4 Finals everyone plays first week.
First week 1v2 3v4
(3 week finals)


16 week competition.

None of this is a new concept.
Split comp in the past in SIRU
Canberra lower grades play different comp every weekend.

 

[oldandcranky]

As in the past follow 1st grade. Points carry over for lower grades. Women’s comp would best to stand alone comp as 3rd grade.
Wouldn’t be too hard to align most games with all grades playing together but clubs would have to be prepared to split when needed as in the John Dent Comp Canberra.
It’s over confusing the concept of points tiering what worked before can work again.

 

[paul bristow]

Whistle’s post implies an uneven playing field. Will Cranky’s or any other scheme work if the issues he has brought up aren’t addressed?

 

[Maulalltheway]

devils advocate question i dont know the answer to.

how do you even the playing field in an amateur comp?

 

[paul bristow]

I realise you’re going to see red and probably a few other colours as well Mauler when I say this but when you mention the term amateur comp aren’t you playing devils advocate.

 

[Maulalltheway]

I'm confused.
the comp is an amateur comp. The bylaws are clear on that.

either way, semantics aside...

how do you force an even playing field on a comp? im asking a genuine question and am surprised by the innuendo Paul?

 

[paul bristow]

The Shute Shield has a player points system Mauler which has worked well .Which ever way we go is going to be muddied by the belief that 2 clubs in SIRU aren’t completely amateur. Whether true or not things like Waratahs coming up with 2 new big forwards from Leeton the week after losing to City encourage suspicion.

 

[Maulalltheway]

You mean returning players Eroni who played 2023 and 2024 and Sai who played 2023?

tread carefully with these implications when not knowing the facts.

side note. Points systems work. However works well? I’m not sure about that. A good read of the Shute shield forum and their Facebook page shows significant issues around points.

id also suggest that aside from Albury and Aggies the remainder of clubs clearly are all bringing players into their clubs. This doesn’t mean anything untoward has occurred.

then again it’s always been easier to sling mud here than actually look internally!

 

[Maulalltheway]

Lets just dig into the points system. Think it has merit

 

[paul bristow]

OK Mauler. I don’t want to be seen as slinging mud. I don’t have any facts. I do believe there is general belief the comp is not completely amateur. I do agree with you that this belief is based on rumour.