Under the rules written up by Ted Maher a team holding the Cup two years in succession could keep it. Cootamundra’s stunning side of 1923 achieved this. However the Cup was already a major talk of towns far and wide and too valuable to be placed in the trophy cabinet for posterity.  So Cootamundra made up new rules and put the Cup back into play – for what would end up being another 48 years.

The Cootamundra team of 26 Sep 1923 which won the Maher Cup outright. In 1924 they put the money spinner back into play. Back: Left-Right; M.J. Ryan (Selector), Mick Tuncheon, P. J. Kiley (Hon Sec), Bill Lesberg, Bob Condon, Charlie. Schwartzel, D.J. Rand (President), Bernie Kinnane, W. Farrer (vice President), Delaney, Referee (Sydney) –  2nd Row: Fred Hayward, Jack Watson, Phil Regan (Captain & Coach), Ray Sheedy, L.T. ‘Dadie’ Quinlan – Front Row: C.H. Inson (Hon Treasurer), Brian O’Connor, Curtis ‘Dick’ Pellow, Eric Weissel, Tom ‘Dipper’ McDevitt – Absent players: Wal Franklin, Phil Freestone, Tom Ryan, J. Large, J. Kelley, P. Mills, Charlie Schofield. (These would have been players who didn’t play in the particular match but contributed in other games)

This year the Southern Districts team was selected in a match which christened Fisher Park between teams billed as  ‘Cootamundra’ and ‘Goulburn’. While the Goulburn team was a composite from the various clubs in Group 8, the Coota team was very much their victorious Maher Cup team plus fullback Bob Boyd from Stockinbingal and Gerry Crowe from Gobarralong near Gundagai. Weissel was brilliant and Coota won 16-3. Seven Coota players, plus Crowe and Boyd were selected to go to Sydney.  In Country Week they went on to beat North Coast 14-12 and Northern Division 29-8. According to the Gundagai Independent Eric Weissel had his jaw broken, although only six days later he played in the Group’s biggest game to date.

This big event was the visit to Cootamundra by the English team on 27 May, attracting between 5000 and 6000 spectators.  England won 31-4 and went on to defeat Australia in the first test 22-3 at the Sydney Cricket Ground four weeks later.

The Maher Cup had by 1924 emerged as the premier local league fixture.  In a way it was just another challenge cup of the type that businessmen, particularly publicans and cafe owners, sponsored for their towns and villages throughout the area. But the Maher Cup quickly garnered intense interest from Tumut to Wyalong and all places in between.

The Cootamundra Herald above listed the gates from the Coota team’s home games for the season.  Most of these matches involved the Maher Cup, but there were also Farrar Cup matches with West Wyalong (with gate takings larger than all but one of the Maher Cup matches) and Gundagai, while friendlies were hosted with Balmain, Everleigh Loco and Berrima.

West Wyalong’s year was more typical of Group 9 teams in that they played for a great variety of challenge cups.  The Farrar Cup, originally put up by a West Wyalong publican, was lost twice to Cootamundra, they withstood three challenges for Leeton’s Tulk Cup which they had captured, played two matches in the Southwest District Championship Shield, three Crowley Cup matches with Temora, four Burge Cup matches with Barmedman, defeated Forbes in two friendlies and had their first game ever against Griffith.

Such was Group 9 football in the days before a regular weekly league ladder competition.