{"id":502633,"date":"2026-02-25T07:14:13","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:14:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502633\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T07:14:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T07:14:13","slug":"barraba-to-join-new-england-rugby-competition-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/502633\/","title":{"rendered":"Barraba to join New England Rugby competition in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

Barraba Rugby Union will join the New England Rugby competition in 2026 following a decision at the organisation\u2019s annual general meeting on Sunday, 22 February.<\/p>\n

The New England Rugby Union management committee formally accepted Barraba\u2019s application, paving the way for the club to field teams in both First Grade and the Women\u2019s competition next season.<\/p>\n

The move expands a competition that continues to grow across the region. In 2026, Armidale Blues, Walcha Rams, Barbarians, Tamworth Magpies, St Albert\u2019s College, and Robb College will field teams in Women\u2019s, First Grade, and lower grades.<\/p>\n

Tenterfield Bumblebees have nominated a Third Grade side, while Dorrigo Rangers and Glen Innes Elks will compete in Second Grade and the Women\u2019s competition.<\/p>\n

New England Rugby president Jason Wall welcomed the development.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe inclusion of Barraba into New England Rugby competition format for 2026 is an exciting step forward. We are thrilled with the inclusion of new teams into our First Grade and Women\u2019s competitions. This year has seen real growth in the women\u2019s space with three new women\u2019s sides from Barraba, Walcha, and Dorrigo joining the competition,\u201d Mr Wall said.<\/p>\n

The 2026 draw will be released shortly, with adjustments being made to accommodate Barraba\u2019s inclusion.<\/p>\n

\n\tRelated\n<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\tKate is a proud mum of two with a wealth of journalism, media and communications experience across the New England and its surrounding regions. She raises guide dogs in her spare time, loves a good chat…\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\tMore by Kate Brown\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Barraba Rugby Union will join the New England Rugby competition in 2026 following a decision at the organisation\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":116589,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,252730,252731,252732,760,85],"class_list":["post-502633","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-barraba-rugby-union","tag-jason-wall","tag-new-england-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502633","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=502633"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/502633\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/116589"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=502633"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=502633"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=502633"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}