Football was being developed into a semi-professional game with top ranked representative players coming to the bush to take up paid captain-coaching roles at: Barmedman – Clarrie Horder; Cootamundra – Phil Reagan (now in his fourth year), Grenfell – Frank Burge; Gundagai – Alex Johnston; Temora – Jack Dawson, Tumut – ‘Bluey’ Watkins, West Wyalong – Dick Vest, and at Young – Joe Mansted.

This year the Southern Districts team for Country Week was composed only of Group 9 players and most were from Cootamundra.  The team being: fullback; Bill Lesberg (Coota); three-quarters,  Tom Ryan (Coota),  J. Mitton (Wagga), Sid Hall (Young), Jack Watson (Coota), Eric Weissel (Coota), Phil Regan (Coota), Charlie Schwartzel (Coota), Clem Robinson (Coota), Dadie Quinlan (Coota), Ray Sheedy (Coota), ‘Curly’ McWhinney (Young) and Jack Wunsch (Wagga). They lost to Far North Coast 20-15.  [One report has Schofield scoring a try]. In the second match they trounced Northern 26-8 with Schofield replacing Watson, and Cootamundra’s Curtis Pellow replacing  Schwartzel. Weissel, Wunsch, Lesberg and Sid Hall were selected in the Combined Country team to play the New Zealand tourists.

Cootamundra organised what was to be the first Group 9 annual conference. The primary purpose was to put in place a ‘Board of Control’ to formally develop and manage rugby league in the area.   On 5 August delegates came representing Barmedman, Cootamundra, Griffith, Gundagai, Harden, Junee, Leeton, Marengo, Monteagle, Temora, Tumut, Wagga, West Wyalong, Yenda and Young.

The first business was whether Cootamundra would be the headquarters for Group 9.  The elected secretary, Fred Cahill of Young, considered that his town was larger and thus should be the capital. He lost. Cahill suggested that a regular Group 9 competition be established from 1926 – a battle he would spend many years doggedly pursuing. Not for the last time discussion was deferred on the matter.  Tom O’Farrell of Wagga was elected president, a constitution drawn up, affiliation fees fixed, auditors appointed and New Zealand invited to play on 19 August at Fisher Park.

Brilliantly led by Eric Weissel the Group 9 team defeated the ‘All Blacks’ 26-25 in front of about 3,000.  After paying the Kiwis their guarantee a decent £62 profit resulted.   The players were: fullback, G. Robinson (Cootamundra); three-quarters, ‘Bluey’ Freestone (Gundagai), Jack Brown (Young), Peters (Griffith), Jack McCarthy (Wagga); halves, Eric Weissel (Cootamundra) and Jim Cornett (Leeton); forwards, Gerry Crowe (Gundagai), Gerry Quirk (Tumut), R. Mulvihill (Tumut), Jack Wunsch (Wagga), Bill Brogan (West Wyalong) and Ted Curran (Temora).

The Group 9 meeting sought to organise matches for 1926 so that each ‘first grade centre’ would play at least eight games away each year – four on Wednesday and four on Sunday. This plan emerged in 1926 as being as easy as herding cats and was abandoned.