This page is for the Group 19 Premiership which ran from 1950–1970 in the Southern Tablelands Region For the current competition in theNew England region, seeGroup 19 Rugby League For the previous competition labelled Group 19, which ran in the Canberra District & Southern New South Wales, seeGroup 19 Rugby League (1974–1979)
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.[2]
The enumeration Group 19 was later redeployed to theCanberra District competition, before again being used in theNorthern Tablelands of New South Wales, with teams fromArmidale,Glen Innes,Guyra, Narwan,Uralla andWalcha competing under that banner in the 1980s.