[4][5] Ballina entered the FNC Reserve Grade competition in 1976, with immediate success winning the Premiership.
[7] Another Reserve grade title followed in 1978, but it would be almost another decade before the club experienced finals success.
The coach was Len Diett, a former Wallaby and teacher at Ballina High School, and the side were undefeated in the FNC competition.
Many of the same players also played in the BHS First XV, also coached by Len, reaching the quarter-finals of the Waratah Shield.
The original emblem of the club was a flying Pelican, but in 1983 it was replaced by the Sea Horse.