Holbrook edged out St Pats Albury in the boys rugby league final, while Melrose Primary School, Lavington East and Holy Spirit were triumphant in the league tag competition.

Holbrook combined with students from Albury West Public School to form the winning team.

A further nine gala days will be staged across the Riverina in the coming weeks, with the winners to progress to the Mortimer Shield finals in Wagga.

Organiser Dean Whymark was delighted with the response.

“We had 22 girls teams, which was our biggest ever,” Whymark said.

“It was a massive day, but it was really good.

“We had 13 schools represented and 50 teams all together.

“We also had 16 referees from Catholic College Wodonga and another eight from Muray High School, so there was good support from the local high schools.

“We had another 12 teams in the mixed league tag, but we don’t progress any winners from that one.

“It’s basically just to give kids a taste of the sport in a non-contact environment or kids that don’t want to play in the competitive side of things.

“It was really positive with lots of kids enjoying their first rugby league or league tag experience.”