Wentworthville Magpies

Wentworthville Magpies
Center
Club information
Full name Wentworthville Magpies
Rugby League
Football Club
Nickname(s) Wenty
Colours   Black
  White
Founded 1937
(or 1963)
Current details
Ground(s)
  • Ringrose Park
Coach unknown
Competition New South Wales Cup
Ron Massey Cup
Parramatta Rugby League
Sydney Shield
NSWRL Women's Premiership
Records
Premierships 1 (2008)

The Wentworthville Magpies, colloquially known as Wenty, are a rugby league team based in the suburb of Wentworthville in Sydney's Western Suburbs. Founded in 1963 (or 1937), the club has competed in various Sydney district competitions and, since 2003, the semi-professional Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield competitions in NSW, Australia. The club also fielded a team in the Canterbury Cup NSW as part of a joint-venture with the Parramatta Eels between 2008 and 2019 acting as Parramatta's feeder club.

Inter-District/Second Division/Metropolitan Cup

During this period Wentworthville ("The Magpies") was the most successful club at this level of competition, competing in every grand final of the Second Division between 1964 and 1973 (winning all but the 1966 and 1972 grand finals).

The club won a total of 8 premierships during the history of the Second Division (including 5 in a row between 1967 and 1971). Due to their domination of the competition 'Wenty' was widely considered the best candidate for promotion to the NSWRL Premiership when two positions were made available for the 1967 competition. Due to their proximity to Parramatta, where a Premiership club was established in 1946, the Magpies were overlooked.

When the Second Division was reorganised as the Metropolitan League in 1974 the Magpies left the competition to play in the Illawarra Rugby League competition, believing they could find greater competition on the South Coast. They failed to repeat this success in the Illawarra competition.

The club returned to the Sydney competition when it was reorganised as the Metropolitan Cup in 1990, winning premierships in 1998 and 1999.

Wills Cup

Wentworthville had one opportunity to compete against Sydney's first-grade clubs when they were invited, as champions of the 1969 Second Division, to compete in the 1970 NSWRL pre-season competition (then known as the Wills Cup). Second Division 1969 runners-up University of Sydney were also invited to participate.

Wentworthville finished 12th (above Penrith Panthers and University) in the competition with 1 win and 3 losses and a points differential of −21. They played games against Parramatta, University, Penrith and Western Suburbs. Their win came against local rivals Parramatta, winning 12–8 at Cumberland Oval but they failed to defeat fellow Second Division club, University, narrowly losing 19–17.

Despite a promising win against a top-flight side the experiment of inviting Second Division teams to participate in first-grade competitions was not considered a success and was never repeated.

Jim Beam Cup/Bundaberg Red Cup/Ron Massey Cup

The Wentworthville Magpies joined the NSWRL Jim Beam Cup in its first year in 2003 and were runners-up to The Entrance Tigers in the 2003 Grand Final. In 2009 they won the Bundaberg Red Grand Final against the Cabramatta 'Two' Blues. Since 2009, Wentworthville have won the competition another five times in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017 and 2018.

NSWRL State League/Premier League

In 2007, Parramatta Eels announced that they would form a joint-venture with the club to play in the NSWRL Premier League/State League. The Team includes players from both the Eels and the Magpies from the Bundaberg Red Cup. The joint-venture won their first Premiership in 2008, defeating the Newtown Jets in Golden Point Extra Time, with the match duration lasting in excess of 100 minutes.

During the 2008 season, such names as internationals Joe Galuvao, Eric Grothe, and Krisnan Inu all donned the famous black & white jersey of the Wenty club, along with fellow regular first graders Ben Smith, Tim Smith, Junior Paulo, Weller Hauraki & Todd Lowrie among others.

The Magpies and Eels once again joined forces in the NSW Cup in 2009. In addition, the Magpies also fielded a team in the Bundaberg Red Cup (formerly the Jim Beam Cup), with both competitions running concurrently.

Since making the grand final in 2008, Wentworthville have been competitive in The Intrust Super Premiership NSW finishing 2011 in 6th place, 2012 in 4th place, 2013 in 8th place, 2014 in 4th place, 2015 as wooden spooners and in 2016 they finished 9th.

Roydon Gillett playing for the Wentworthville Magpies in the New South Wales Cup

In the 2017 NSW Cup season, Wentworthville missed out on the finals for the third straight year finishing 9th on the table and missing out on the finals by 3 points. In the 2018 NSW Cup season, Wentworthville finished in 10th place on the table missing out on the finals by 2 competition points.

In October 2018, Nathan Cayless resigned as head coach of the club. The Parramatta Eels also announced that they would be ending their partnership with Wentworthville after the conclusion of the 2019 season. Parramatta CEO Bernie Gurr spoke to the media saying "Out of the review we found if we want to be a successful development club we need to have the Parramatta Eels in the ISP. Then you've got a clear one-club mentality". On 2 November 2018, former Parramatta reserve grade and Wentworthville coach Rip Taylor was announced as the new head coach for the 2019 season.

On 22 April 2019, Wentworthville played in the first ever game at the new Western Sydney Stadium which was against Western Suburbs with Wentworthville running out winners 20-14. Wentworthville player Bevan French scored the first ever try at the new venue.

Wentworthville finished the 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW season in eighth position on the table and qualified for the finals. Wentworthville then produced upset victories over Penrith, Canterbury-Bankstown and South Sydney to reach the 2019 Canterbury Cup NSW grand final.

In the grand final against Newtown, Wentworthville would go on to lose the match 20-15 at Bankwest Stadium after extra-time.

Notable Juniors

Also see Category:Wentworthville Magpies players

Notable First Grade Players that have played at Wentworthville Magpies include:

Honours

  • Intrust Super Premiership NSW
    • Winners (1) – 2008
  • Ron Massey Cup (and previous third tier competitions)
    • Winners (17) – Record: 1964, 1965, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1973, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, 2019
    • Minor Premiers (13) – 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1997, 1998, 2009, 2014, 2018, 2019
  • Sydney Shield
    • Winners (2) – 2012, 2015
    • Minor Premiers – 2015
  • Second Division Reserve Grade
    • Winners (6) – 1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, 1969, 1970
    • Minor Premiers (6) – 1965, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1972

Playing Record in NSW Competitions

Second Tier

The Wentworthville-Parramatta joint venture participated in second-tier, NSWRL competitions for twelve seasons.

Year Competition Ladder Finals Position All Match Record
Pos Byes Pts P W L D For Agst Diff
2008 NSW Cup 2 0 33 Premiers 25 19 5 1 705 426 279
2009 NSW Cup 3 2 28 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 23 13 10 0 600 434 166
2010 NSW Cup 6 0 25 Last 6 Semi-Finalist 27 12 14 1 822 757 65
2011 NSW Cup 5 2 29 Last 6 Semi-Finalist 25 12 12 1 582 672 -90
2012 NSW Cup 4 2 32 Last 6 Semi-Finalist 26 14 12 0 846 601 245
2013 NSW Cup 8 2 26 Top 8 Elimination Semi-Finalist 25 11 14 0 683 769 -86
2014 NSW Cup 3 2 34 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 27 16 11 0 771 730 41
2015 NSW Cup 12 3 18 Wooden Spoon 22 6 16 0 402 627 -225
2016 Intrust Premiership 9 3 26 25 10 12 0 472 573 -101
2017 Intrust Premiership 9 3 24 22 9 13 0 499 465 34
2018 Intrust Premiership 10 2 22 22 9 13 0 436 583 -147
2019 Canterbury Cup 8 1 24 Grand Finalist 26 14 12 9 604 551 53

Third Tier

Year Competition Ladder Finals Position All Match Record
Pos Byes Pts P W L D For Agst Diff
1963 Inter-District 3 24 Semi-Finalist 19 11 6 2 183 105 78
1964 Second Division 1 0 30 Premiers 20 17 3 0 457 155 302
1965 Second Division 1 0 29 Premiers 19 16 2 1 470 118 352
1966 Second Division 1 0 24 Grand Finalist
1967 Second Division 2 0 22 Premiers 16 13 3 0 374 138 236
1968 Second Division 1 2 30 Premiers 18 17 1 0 412 144 268
1969 Second Division 1 0 27 Premiers 18 15 2 1 421 139 282
1970 Second Division 1 2 38 Premiers 22 20 2 0 520 162 358
1971 Second Division 1 2 38 Premiers 23 20 1 2 692 205 487
1972 Second Division 3 2 38 Grand Finalist 23 19 4 0 717 231 486
1973 Second Division 2 2 36 Grand Finalist 23 19 4 0 659 221 438
1990 Metropolitan Cup 5 15
1991 Metropolitan Cup 2 21 Finalist
1992 Metropolitan Cup 4 2 21 Finalist 18 9 7 2 325 292 33
1993 Metropolitan Cup 9 2 6 Wooden Spoon 16 1 15 0 206 408 -202
1994 Metropolitan Cup 7 0 13 21 6 14 1 416 517 -101
1995 Metropolitan Cup 2 2 30 Grand Finalist
1996 Metropolitan Cup 2 2 28 Finalist 18 12 6 0 506 317 189
1997 Metropolitan Cup 1 20 Finalist
1998 Metropolitan Cup 1 0 26 Premiers 21 16 5 0 508 345 163
1999 Metropolitan Cup 3 22 Premiers 19 14 7 0 491 365 126
2000 Metropolitan Cup 6 0 13 14 6 7 1 371 284 87
2001 Metropolitan Cup 7 3 12 Wooden Spoon 18 3 15 0 324 556 -232
2002 Metropolitan Cup 3 0 16 Semi-Finalist 16 8 8 0 404 316 88
2003 Jim Beam Cup 2 0 34 Grand Finalist 26 18 6 2 898 508 390
2004 Jim Beam Cup 5 2 28 Semi-Finalist 21 12 9 0 612 456 156
2005 Jim Beam Cup 4 3 26 Finalist 22 13 7 2 703 475 228
2006 Jim Beam Cup 3 2 23 Semi-Finalist 18 9 8 1 430 360 70
2007 Jim Beam Cup 5 0 29 Semi-Finalist 24 15 8 1 696 370 326
2008 Jim Beam Cup 7 0 21 22 10 11 1 581 609 -28
2009 Bundaberg Red Cup 1 0 27 Premiers 20 15 4 1 541 394 147
2010 Bundaberg Red Cup 2 0 26 Premiers 24 16 8 0 772 617 155
2011 Bundaberg Red Cup 4 0 22 Elimination Semi-Finalist 22 11 11 0 579 596 -17
2012 Bundaberg Red Cup 2 0 27 Premiers 22 16 5 1 837 396 441
2013 Ron Massey Cup 3 0 30 Premiers 25 18 7 0 916 503 413
2014 Ron Massey Cup 1 0 29 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 24 15 8 1 764 538 226
2015 Ron Massey Cup 2 2 32 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 22 15 7 0 638 361 277
2016 Ron Massey Cup 3 2 32 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 22 15 7 0 668 385 283
2017 Ron Massey Cup 2 7 40 Premiers 21 16 5 0 582 372 210
2018 Ron Massey Cup 1 2 33 Premiers 21 17 3 1 663 314 349
2019 Ron Massey Cup 1 2 38 Premiers 23 20 3 0 691 280 411
2020 Ron Massey Cup N/A 0 2 Competition Cancelled 1 1 0 0 18 14 4
2020 President's Cup 8 1 4 8 1 0 7 122 221 -99

Fourth Tier

Year Competition Ladder Finals Position All Match Record
Pos Byes Pts P W L D For Agst Diff
2014 Sydney Shield 2 0 32 Last 6 Semi-Finalist 22 16 6 0 852 518 334
2015 Sydney Shield 1 2 38 Premiers 23 20 3 0 798 470 328
2016 Sydney Shield 7 0 24 Last 6 Semi-Finalist 24 13 11 0 798 744 54
2017 Sydney Shield 3 3 37 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 24 16 7 1 817 568 249
2018 Sydney Shield 4 2 30 Last 4 Preliminary Finalist 20 14 6 0 705 440 265
2019 Sydney Shield 7 1 22 Top 8 Elimination Semi-Finalist 21 10 11 0 600 547 53
2020 Sydney Shield N/A 0 2 Competition Cancelled 1 1 0 0 28 16 12
2020 Sydney Shield 9 1 3 Wooden Spoon 8 0 7 1 54 224 -170

See also