Fall-off in RL rep interest | Coffs Coast Rugby League | NRL Rugby in Coffs Coast

Greg White | 2nd December 2009

CHANGES are being sought for the administration of rugby league regions in Northern New South Wales.

Oxley Pioneers’ delegates Jim Anderson (Group 2) and Ross Hamilton (Group 4) have found widespread agreement to their belief the elimination of the old Division structure in 2007 and the introduction of Regions brought few improvements to grass roots football, particularly in the representative sphere, and they’re now seeking a return to traditional ways.

Apart from the winning streak forged by the Pioneers’ under-18 sides under coach Peter Barrett, little progress has been made at senior level.

“There’s no in-fighting and actually, we’ve all got on really well right from the start,” Anderson said.

“The problem is that from the beginning, one Group competition from each Region was misplaced so that we run east to west, instead of the traditional north to south.

“We hardly know each other and it’s provided no benefit to providing a better standard of football, which is what we’re supposed to be doing.

“Most player transfers occur among the coastal Groups where the ties have built up over the decades and we’ve hardly had any players go back and forth across the range.

“When you’re picking rep teams, it means further travel for trials and training sessions and a fall-off in interest.

“The feeling is if we go back to where we were, changes in the wind will get things moving forward again.”

The belief is the coastal competitions – Group 2, Group 3 and Northern Rivers Regional Rugby League (former Groups 1 and 18) – should have been left together, instead of moulding Groups 2, 3 and 4 (Tamworth area) to form the Oxley Pioneers.

Further, Northern Thunderbolts came together with the marriage between the NRRRL and the inland Group 19 (Tablelands to the Queensland border), another perceived territorial anomaly.

“At the annual meeting, we moved a letter be forwarded to Country Rugby League, asking them to review the structure,” Anderson said. “Regional names won’t change and the managers will stay in place.

“The only change might be the coastal and inland Groups will stick together in the natural way they’ve been traditionally running since the game started.”

Even if CRL agrees, no change will occur before 2011 or the rumoured nationwide re-structure of rugby league.

But the overhaul of the 2010 representative program into southern and northern zones, will go ahead.

Group 2 seniors will participate in a second-tier round robin against Groups 3, 4, 11, 19 and the Castlereagh Cup on May 22-23 next, in Inverell.

Semi finals will be held on June 5 with the final one week later at a venue to be decided.

However, the under-18s will maintain the status quo with trials for Pioneer selection to be hosted by Group 4 at Scully Park (Tamworth) on March 27.

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