Teams from all around the southern part of the state participated in the knockout, which was used as a selection trial for the South Coast United side that will travel to Dubbo for the NSW Koori Knockout later this month.

South Coast United, Red Dust, Mudjilali Men’s Group, Wallaga Warriors, Bodalla Conections, Western Rivers and Stewart Relations all took part in the competition with local players from Eden, Bega and Wallaga Lake taking part.

Organiser Mason Harrison said the day was a success.

“It ran pretty smoothly,” Mr Harrison said.

“There were some odd markings on the ground from an event held on the Friday, but everything else ran well.

“It grew this year in terms of spectators even though we had less teams. It just looked like there were more supporters there.”

The rugby league was the main focus of the day, and Harrison said it was typical knockout football.

“It was hard, tough rugby league,” he said.

“The winning side were a Western Rivers side, so they were from Dubbo, Gilgandra, Peak Hill, all around that area.

“They had a couple of coastal guys playing for them as well.

“They stayed under the radar for most of the day.

“They got a good draw which gave them an early bye, and they kind of came out of nowhere to win it.”

Western Rivers beat Bodalla in the grand final, marking Bodalla’s second-straight loss in the decider.

“Bodalla beat one of the strongest teams (Red Dust) in the semi-final to get into the decider,” Harrison said.

The decider went right down to the wire, with the result only decided in the final minute of play.

“It was a mirror-image of last year’s final, Bodalla scored in the last 30 second to pinch it,” Mr Harrison said.

“Western Rivers gave them a bit of a touch up in the final.

“The Bodalla boys were really drained because they played an hour before the final, which gave Western Rivers a massive advantage.”

Harrison will now turn his attention to Dubbo for the NSW knockout, and says his team would give it a red-hot go.

“We’re heading north in a couple of weeks,” he said.

“We’ve selected quality players from each team this year, and we’re looking forward to giving the big one a shake.

“We’re more prepared this year player wise, and a lot of the guys have kept themselves really fit since the end of football season.

“We feel like we’ve picked a very strong side.”

Mr Harrison created the event to help strengthen community connections.