The strength of the tri-school Astley Cup competition featuring Dubbo College each year is how this annual sporting competition – also involving Bathurst and Orange – has evolved over the decades.

Next month’s will be no different, with a new “bonus point” scoring system introduced to further tweak changes that came into effect over the past two events.

These 2024 reforms involved scoring moving away from a ratio-based points system to one where each sport in the competition was simply awarded as two points for a win, one for a draw, and zero for a loss.

The new scoring system will instead award four points for a win, two for a draw, and a “bonus point” for what one organiser has called: “a close loss and a big win”.

One of Australia's longest-running regional school sporting competitions, the Astley Cup started in 1923, with the first tri-tournament played in 1925.

The system introduced in 2024 was described as a “fairer approach” designed to eliminate anomalies where a school could win the majority of individual sports, but still lose the overall competition.

Sports this year again comprise basketball (boys and girls); netball; tennis; hockey; soccer (boys and girls); rugby league and, in athletics, running, long-jump, high-jump, shot-put, and discus.

Under the new point-scoring system, for each sport (athletics, basketball, hockey, girls soccer, boys soccer, netball rugby league, and tennis), the winning side will receive four points for their school, with two for a draw, and zero for a loss. The bonus points for close losses in 2026/2027 will be:

• Tennis: 7-5 sets result

• Basketball/Netball/Rugby League/Athletics: a loss by seven points or less

• Hockey/Soccer: a loss by one goal

For bonus points for big wins, these will be:

• Tennis: 9-3 sets or better

• Basketball/Netball/Rugby League/Athletics: a win by more than 20 points.

• Hockey/Soccer: a win by four goals or more.

Dates for the 2026 competition include Dubbo taking-on Orange in Dubbo on Thursday and Friday, June 18–19 , before travelling to Bathurst the week after on Thursday and Friday, June 25–26.

Dubbo College currently holds the trophy after defeating Orange High School with a final score of 10-6 in the second part of the competition in early July 2025 backing up their victory in 2024.