The Original Group 19 Rugby League was a competition which ran from the 1950 until 1970, in the Southern Tablelands region of New South Wales. Many clubs left for other competitions after this time, including Group 16 and Group 8. The Group 19 tag was then transferred to Canberra and later Northern New South Wales.
History A senior Rugby League competition under the enumeration Group 19 ran from the post-war years until 1970. Participating teams included Bibbenluke, Bombala, Delegate, Jindabyne and (usually) Adaminaby. In most seasons two or three Cooma teams participated – the Cooma Rovers and St Patricks, Cooma Blues or Cooma Citizens. Employees engaged in the Snowy River Scheme fielded teams for short periods – Public Service, Snowy and the intriguingly named Utah-Island Bend.
In 1971 the northern Group 19 clubs – Cooma Rovers, Adaminaby, Jindabyne, Cooma Citizens and Nimmitabel agreed to combine playing resources and field a team in the Group 16 competition, as the Alpine Wanderers. The three teams from southern Monaro, Bibbenluke, Bombala and Delegate, also joined the combined competition, although they remained separate clubs.
The enumeration Group 19 was later redeployed to the Canberra District competition, before again being used in the Northern Tablelands of New South Wales, with teams from Armidale, Glen Innes, Guyra, Narwan, Uralla and Walcha competing under that banner in the 1980s.
Former Teams ClubMonikerYearsPremierships Adaminaby 1952 Berridale None Bibbenluke Roosters ?? 1963 Bombala Blueheelers ??–1970 1950, 1966–68 Cooma Blues??–1970 Cooma Citizens ??–1970 1951, 1955 Cooma Rovers ??–1970 1956, 1958, 1960 Cooma St Patricks ??–1970 1959, 1962 Delegate Tigers ??–1970 1969–70 Jindabyne Bears ??–1970 1954, 1961, 1965 Nimmitabel Magpies None Public Service 1957 Snowy 1953 Utah-Island Bend 1964
Grand Finals
SeasonGrand Final informationMinor PremiersPremiersScoreRunners-upReport 1950 Bombala 17–14 Cooma CME Bombala 1951 Cooma 13–3 Bombala CME Cooma 1952 Adaminaby 14–8 Bombala CME Bombala 1953 Snowy 8–5 Bombala CME Bombala 1954 Jindabyne 11–10 Snowy CME Jindabyne 1955 Cooma-Snowy 18–11 Bombala CME Cooma-Snowy 1956 Cooma Rovers 9–7 Berridale CME 1957 Public Service 11–7 Berridale CME Cooma Rovers 1958 Cooma Rovers 8–7 St Patricks CME Cooma Rovers 1959 St Patricks 18–10 Cooma Rovers CME St Patricks 1960 Cooma Rovers 9–5 Adaminaby CME 1961 Jindabyne 9–5 Cooma Rovers CME Cooma Rovers 1962 St Patricks 8–3 Cooma Rovers CME Cooma Rovers 1963 Bibbenluke 13–12 Bombala CME Bombala 1964 Utah-Island Bend 21–14 Bombala CME Utah-Island Bend 1965 Jindabyne 32–2 Delegate CME Jindabyne 1966 Bombala 20–9 Jindabyne CME 1967 Bombala 14–8 Cooma Rovers CME 1968 Bombala 20–0 Cooma Rovers CME Cooma Rovers 1969 Delegate 20–13 Bombala CME Cooma Rovers 1970 Delegate 15–7 Bibbenluke CME Delegate
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