The Canterbury-Bankstown District Junior Rugby League will welcome back the Chipping Norton Kangaroos for the 2025 season, bringing the junior league division to 13 clubs across the board.
Entering its 104th season, the Canterbury Bankstown District Junior Rugby League (CBDJRL) was established in 1921 and will expand for the first time since 2010, with the Kangaroos set to join Bankstown Bulls, Bankstown Sports, Berala Bears, Chester Hill Hornets, East Hills, Greenacre Tigers, Milperra Colts, Moorebank Rams, Revesby Heights Rhinos, St George Dragons, St Christophers and St Johns Eagles in 2025.
The expansion will see the CBDJRL and by extension, the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs’ catchment area edge further into the south-west corridor with the addition of the Chipping Norton club. The footprint of which already spans from Moorebank to Clemton Park in the west, Chester Hill and Berala in the north, to the George’s River in the south, and has helped produce some of the Club’s and NRL’s finest talents.
“The Chipping Norton area represents a big region with a lot of schools and potential junior players,” said Bulldogs Head of Junior League John Grealy who has overseen the growth of the CBDJRL to over 3,600 participants in 2024.
“We welcome Chipping Norton as we want as many kids playing rugby league as possible; it is a highly populated area with young families and if we can bring them into the competition, it’s good for everyone. Our goal is to keep the base solid so we can keep seeing more and more juniors come through and possibly even unearth the next generation of rugby league superstars,” he said.
In the 2024 season, the Bulldogs NRL squad were represented by over eight local junior players including centre Bronson Xerri, wingers Jacob Kiraz and Jonathan Sua, locks Bailey Hayward and Kurtis Morrin, 2nd rower Harry Hayes, and props Chris Patolo and Lipoi Hopoi.
Behind the players who starred on the NRL stage are a crop of locally produced talent being primed to make their mark across the Club’s junior and senior representative grades.
“That is the best thing for our junior league kids to see when they join. It allows them to relate and take pride in the Bulldogs badge,” Grealy said.
All of the 13 clubs will proudly don the official Bulldogs badge on their junior league uniforms in 2025, something that the Club’s current crop of local junior stars remember fondly.
For the Chipping Norton Kangaroos, a return to the Bulldogs badge is familiar territory. The club was a mainstay of the CBDJRL from 1984 to 2007 but were unfortunately unable to continue operations in 2007. After 18 years and plenty of hard work behind the scenes, the Kangaroos will now officially return to take the field at their original home ground at Childs Park.
“The Chipping Norton Kangaroos put forward a very impressive proposal to join the junior league and the Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs together with the local Council were each very supportive of their readmission,” said Bulldogs Deputy Chair and proud junior league advocate, John Khoury.
Our Club has long been committed to grow the game of rugby league at a grassroots level and the addition of the Kangaroos means that even more kids and families will have access to play the game with clear and direct pathways, all the way from the local ground at Child’s Park through the Bulldogs junior representative grades and into the NRL and NRLW.
“We are delighted to welcome our 13th junior league club,” Khoury said.
As the Chipping Norton Kangaroos prepare for their first season back, they will be looking to build from the ground up across a range of teams and age divisions.
Aiding families to access rugby league in the local area, the Bulldogs together with Canterbury League Club are proud to be continuing their registration grant subsidy scheme into the 2025 season.
Announced by the Club last year, the registration grant subsidy offers to cover up to $100.00 per child, for children who meet the age criteria ranging from Under 5s to Under 13s wishing to play within the CBDJRL. This registration subsidy grant will now also extend to the Chipping Norton club, helping to reduce the overhead costs for families and encouraging even more kids to participate in grassroots rugby league from the local area.
The 2025 CBDJRL season will begin in mid-April and while registration periods across each club will vary, most registrations across the CBDJRL will open from 1 December 2024. For parents and players interested in registering, all registrations can be processed via www.playrugbyleague.com
Returning players are encouraged check their club's Facebook or Instagram pages for specific details on their club’s registration windows.
For new players, or parents wishing to find a club nearby, you can visit the 'Find a Club' section of the www.playrugbyleague.com website and browse options using the postcode entry feature. Once you've decided on a club, you can register using the same website.
For more information, or to contact a club directly via a secretary, please reach out as below:
- Bankstown Bulls - Secretary: Wissam (Sam) Masri, info@bankstownbulls.com.au
- Bankstown Sports - Secretary: Yasmin Harris, yasmin.harris@hotmail.com
- Berala Bears - Secretary: Ali Elmasri, ali_elmasri85@hotmail.com
- Chester Hill Hornets - Secretary: Lance Amiatu, lamaitu91@hotmail.com
- Chipping Norton Kangaroos - Secretary: Mandy Barrett, Secretary@cnjrl.com.au
- East Hills Bulldogs - Secretary: Josie Tobenhouse, easthillsbulldogs@hotmail.com
- Greenacre Tigers - Secretary: Khalil Kouayder, kkouayder@gmail.com
- Milperra Colts - Secretary: Katie Lawrence, milperracoltssecretary@gmail.com
- Moorebank Rams - Secretary: Kate Aziz, kateaziz.rams@outlook.com
- Revesby Heights Rhinos - Secretary: Rita Sellars, rita@phfactor.com.au
- St Christophers - Secretary: Nyree Hanratty, info@stchristophers.com.au
- St George Dragons - Secretary: Kristal Sei, cdjlrdragonssecretary@outlook.com
- St Johns Eagles - Secretary: George Agha, georgeagha@gmail.com
