Riverina and Farrer League draw announced for 2022 season

Minor premiers the Lions host the Tigers (third this year) in round one, before they travel to Coolamon (fourth) in round two for the local derby then a clash with this year's other dominant side Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes (second) at Ganmain.

The Tigers travel to Mangoplah in round two, before they host Coolamon at Robertson Oval in round three.

The first round of the Riverina League season is pencilled in for Saturday, April 9, the same day Canberra Raiders play Melbourne Storm in an NRL clash in Wagga.

MCUE start their campaign with a trip to Griffith, Narrandera hosts Coolamon amd Collingullie-Glenfield Park welcome Turvey Park to Crossroads Oval and Leeton-Whitton have the bye.

A general bye is scheduled for the week after round one, with the second bye again on the June long weekend.

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The Farrar League's opening round will be played on April 2, and is highlighted by a clash between this year's top two teams Marrar and East Wagga Kooringal at Langtry Oval.

The Tigers began last year relatively slowly before finding their feet late, but coach Murray Stephenson said if this year's form translates, the draw will give them a handy early gauge of how they're positioned.

"There's not too many better games to kick your season off. There's that buzz going into each year and every team is excited for round one," Stephenson said.

"We get Ganmain round one and it's a good test. It's what you expect come finals, so we'll see where we're at early in the piece.

"Last year our younger players got a pretty steep introduction into senior footy, but they proved by the end of the year they're more than capable.

"We'll be looking to build on that for sure and hopefully recruit a couple of guys to top us off nicely and go from there."

Last year the Lions had a relatively soft schedule early, where they racked up big wins over bottom five sides Narrandera, Turvey Park, Collingullie-Glenfield Park and Leeton-Whitton.

"What I loved about our draw this year is we built momentum and were able to play the top sides in the back end of the year. We were battle hardened and ready for finals (before they were cancelled)," GGGM coach Sam Martyn said.

"It's a guessing game now but if the form is similar to last year, a few wins against those teams early sets you up.

"It's great for us to pit ourselves against some top teams from this year to begin and get a good measurement of where we're at, then gain some momentum in the back end."

ROUND ONE

Riverina League (April 9): Griffith v MCUE at Griffith Ex-Services Club; GGGM v Wagga Tigers at Ganmain Sportsground, Narrandera v Coolamon at Narrandera Sportsground; Collingullie-Glenfield Park v Turvey Park at Crossroad Oval; bye - Leeton Whitton.

Farrer League (April 2): Marrar v East Wagga Kooringal at Langtry Oval; Northern Jets v North Wagga at Ariah Park; Barellan v TRYC at Barellan Sportsground; CSU v Coleambally at Peter Hastie Oval; bye - Temora

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