BY JAMIE PARSONS

With the elimination of last year's Grand Finalists Narrandera and Rankins Springs in recent weeks, the Proten Cup will see a new premier crowned in it's men's competition with Barellan and Ivanhoe playing out the Grand Final.

The competition has seen three premiers in it's seven-season history, with inaugural premiers Rankins Springs winning the trophy three times, in 2018, 2021 & 2024, while four-time Grand Finalist Narrandera Lizards has won twice, back-to-back in 2022-23. Goolgowi has the other lone premiership, winning in 2019 while no competition was played during the covid-affected 2020.

Barellan enjoyed their most successful season in the competition thus far, winning five games and losing just the one, to Grand Final opponents Ivanhoe in Round 3. The Rams had some tough years in the competition, winning two wooden spoons in 2019 and 2023 when they didn't win a game, but through the hard work of their volunteers and a good young squad that has kept together they have improved to win the minor premiership this year. In 2023, young local Noah Forbutt returned to the club to co-coach at only 20 years of age, along with experienced campaigner Adam Thomas who has played every year for the Rams since 2018. A last-placed finish in 2023 wasn't without it's bright spots, unveiling new young talents. 2024 was much improved, with a promising season cut short by Ivanhoe in the minor-semi final that went to golden point. Now in their third year in charge they have taken the Rams to a minor premiership and a Grand Final, their first since 2004. With hardworking volunteers supporting both on the field and off, president Adam Evans along with Jimmy McDermott and Reece Wilson have the club running superbly, with their efforts rewarded seeing both women's and men's teams top the table this season. Not only that, but they all run on the field every week too, with the competition largely kept alive by the large amount of players also serving as committee members in each of it's seven clubs.

The Rams return to the top calls back their glory days at the turn of the century, where they made six Grand Finals between 1998 and 2004, winning three premierships in 1999, 2002 & 2003. Included in those years were two Clayton Cups awarded as the best performed team in country NSW. Barellan have also won Group 17 Premierships in 1973, 74, 76, 78, 81 & 84.

On the other end of the field, the Ivanhoe Roosters have recent grand final experience but are yet to lift the trophy for a First Grade premiership in either Group 17 or the Proten Cup. Ivanhoe have been a dominant force in the last four years of the competition, making three Grand Finals and a preliminary final. Ivanhoe live at the furthest north-west corner of the comp, with their shortest away trip an hour-and-a-half's drive to Hillston and that's if the road isn't closed due to rain. Their longest trips are nearly four hours to Barellan and Narrandera, and in a competition where each team gets one home game and five away games, their competitiveness has been remarkable. Ivanhoe reformed in 2018 largely off the back of president Mark Huntly's work, a mainstay of the competition both in a volunteer role and as a player. Huntly, now 40 years old (and claiming to be retiring), has to be given a lot of the credit for Ivanhoe's continued success as a club. Ivanhoe have also contributed to the running of the competition despite the travel, with club members Josh Robertson and Heather McGinty serving on the competition executive in past years, and current President and Treasurer Brad Lawrence and Kendy Lawrence taking over the positions this season.

On the field Ivanhoe have been called the most luckless club in NSW, despite their winning form they have seen only a Group 17 Reserve Grade title back in 1976, going down in deciders in 1959, 1987 and 2022-23. Ivanhoe finished minor premiers in 2022 only to go down to the Narrandera Lizards in both the major semi and the Grand Final, and backed it up in 2023 coming from fourth to set up a rematch with the Lizards. They were down to 12 men after a send-off just before halftime, and 11 at one point with a sin bin, and still kept the scores level to go to extra time. The Lizards prevailed in extra time, but there was no respect lost for Ivanhoe from Proten Cup supporters. In 2024 they again finished fourth only to be denied another shot at a Grand Final by a drawn preliminary, finishing 16-all with Rankins Springs after golden point and the Dragons going through due to finishing higher on the ladder.

Both clubs can't be said to only focus on their boys, with both women's teams in the Grand Final as well. Barellan and Ivanhoe have battled out the 2023 & 2024 Grand Finals, with the Rams winning both times. Ivanhoe is the only team to have beaten Barellan since the Rams joined the women's competition in 2023, winning the major semi last year 14-12. Barellan have a record of 21 wins and 1 loss since forming a side, but if anyone can beat them on their day it is the Ivanhoe Hens side, who recently accounted for Rankins Springs 36-0 in the prelim final.

2025 Proten Cup Grand Final Schedule, Hosted at Stan Peters Oval, Hillston 1.30pm - ProTen Cup Women's Grand Final - Barellan v Ivanhoe 3.00pm - ProTen Cup Men's Grand Final - Barellan v Ivanhoe