THE Riverina rugby league landscape is very different today to what is was when a young Laurie Daley was first making his name in the sport.

In 1986, when the then 16-year-old led Junee to its drought-breaking premiership over Young, football was thriving.

Flash forward 28 years and its not just the style of play that has changed.

Then Group Nine was a 10 team competition, but only six of the Diesels rivals remain today.

Gone are traditional clubs Wagga Magpies and Turvey Park, replaced by the successful Southcity merger while Harden-Murrumburrah only has a juniors presence.

Group 13 and Group 17 were thriving competitions that can now only be found in the history books.

Albury is dominating Group Nine rather than having multiple teams in Group 13 while Brothers and Tumbarumba are back in Group Nine.

Despite all the changes, the passion for the game is still there, no more evident than the swarms of kids surrounding the NSW coach at Equex Centre.

Daley believes the sport is going strong and help is on its way to ensure it continues to remain that way.

NRL CEO David Smith and NRL head of football Todd Greenberg will come to the Riverina again this weekend.

The pair will meet with councillors at Junee for the the Riverina Schoolboys Carnival on Saturday.

"I think it is on the right path, but we still need to be doing more for the game in the bush," Daley said.

"I know Dave Smith is well aware of that and (he and) Todd Greenberg are coming down on the weekend to have a look around, see the carnival and see how much support there is for the game down here.

"We can't lose that support and I think in the coming months we will see a significant increase in people from the NRL getting right behind bush football and doing a few things."

One of the ways Daley believes rugby league can be strengthened in the country is through NRL clubs playing more games outside of the major cities.

Bathurst hosted the game between Penrith and Cronulla on Saturday afternoon in front of 8824 people and following from that success Daley wants every club to utilise the support the game has in the country.

“I think that first and foremost if you have the facility it should be utilised and I would like to see NRL clubs take at least one game to the bush every year,” Daley said.

“I think it was a great success at Bathurst and it would be a great success coming back here to Wagga and there is a number of country areas that need support and have the facilities to host a game."

With its proximity to the Riverina Canberra was suggested as a club to bring a game to Wagga, but didn't believe just one club would be a good fit for the Riverina.

“It would be nice for every club, at some point in time to play a game out here in the country," Daley said.

"Obviously with Wagga being close by would be a perfect opportunity for someone like the Canberra Raiders, but even a game like the City-Country to come out here would be pretty special."