After weeks of indecision about their future, the Cootamundra Rugby Club has confirmed they will step away from Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) and join the Central West Competition.
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The decision was made this week and president Bob Scott could not be more positive about the future of the club.
Also lining up for the 2016 season are West Wyalong, Condobolin, Temora, Grenfell, Canowindra, Orange Ag College and Blayney.
It had been hoped Young would join, however they look likely to go the direction of the Canberra competition now.
The Tricolours, together with each of the other clubs, will field only one team in the competition, which will take the form or a home and away season with finals to be played in the top-ranking towns.
Each team will play each other twice, once at home and once away.
Mr Scott said the decision to leave SIRU was made easy for the club in the end, when the SIRU hierarchy told them that if they were to field only one team they would have to play third grade.
This was despite the Tricolours winning the second grade Romano’s Cup grand final last year.
After years of the Cootamundra club mixing it with the best across the competition and continuing to attract good crowds at both home and away games to promote the sport, Mr Scott said he is disappointed SIRU were not more flexible, however he is looking to the future.
“We are really excited,” Mr Scott said.
“It’s a move which ensures rugby has a future in Cootamundra. We couldn’t have kept going as we were, something had to change and this is it.”
While bush footy should always have an emphasis on fun, and the Central West Competition will, Mr Scott said all teams are still intending to play good, competitive rugby.
With the carrot of a home final dangling in from of them, Mr Scott said the Tricolours will hope to be top of the pack when the business end of the season arises.
With a new competition, comes the possibility of adding new facets to the Rugby Club.
The Central West Competition includes a Women’s Sevens league with Cootamundra hoping to field a team, should enough women be interested.
The women’s form of the game uses the same rules as men’s rugby, however with fewer people on the field, speed becomes an advantage. Sevens is typically considered a great spectator sport and should be a lot of fun for anyone involved.
Any woman interested in joining the side should get in contact with Mr Scott or any member of the Cootamundra Rugby Club for further details.
“We’d love to get a women’s side up and running so I’d encourage anyone even remotely interested to ask about it,” Mr Scott said.
