The Proten Community Cup draw for their eighth season in 2026 has been completed.

With Narrandera returning to Group 20 the number of teams return to the traditional six, which means six rounds and all teams playing one other team twice, while playing the rest once. With Deniliquin committed to fielding a women’s team this year the women’s draw at this stage remains the same as the men’s.

Goolgowi will host the knockout and Ivanhoe the grand final, with all parts of the draw based on the first six-round draw in 2019. The repeat fixtures will be Goolgowi v Rankins Springs, Ivanhoe v Hillston, and Deniliquin taking the place of Narrandera against Barellan.

The committee chose to keep the Grand Final on the Group 20/Group 9 general bye weekend of 1 August, which means the competition will start a week later this year than usual.

Full dates for the draw:

Knockout – Goolgowi, 23 May

Round 1 – Ivanhoe, 30 May

Long Weekend General Bye – 6 June

Round 2 – Deniliquin, 13 June

Round 3 – Rankins Springs, 20 June

Round 4 – Hillston, 27 June

Round 5 – Barellan, 4 July

Round 6 – Goolgowi, 11 July

Semi-Finals – 18 July

Preliminary Final – 25 July

Grand Final – Ivanhoe, 1 August

Some highlights of the draw include:

Women’s

Barellan v Deniliquin, Round 1: The Deniliquin women’s team will have a baptism of fire in their first hit-out, facing three-time premiers Barellan.

Hillston v Ivanhoe, Round 4: The luckless Bluebirds women have improved greatly over the past two years but without the scores to show for it. Against runners-up Ivanhoe they’ll have a big chance to show what they are worth in 2026.

Ivanhoe v Barellan, Round 6: The Hens will be hoping fourth time’s the charm after three Grand Final losses, with a grand final rematch with the Rams waiting until the final round.

Men’s

Rankins Springs v Goolgowi, Round 1

The Dragons’ 100th anniversary kicks off against arch-rivals Goolgowi who look to have some big name players coming back their way. How each turns up at Ivanhoe at the end of sowing season will prove how committed they are to going further in 2026.

Rankins Springs v Barellan, Round 3

The 2025 premiers take on the three-time champions at the Dragons’ big 100-year celebrations. A sure-to-be quality spectacle.

Hillston v Ivanhoe, Round 4

In the same vein as their women’s teams, the Bluebirds improved in 2025 without making the finals and can put a stamp on the competition with a big showing against the runners-up at home.