Since Monday, when news broke of Dubbo CYMS’ mooted move east to Group 10 in 2017, the question on the tip of everyone’s tongue in rugby league circles in Western Division has been will Group 11’s glamour club end up jumping ship for greener pastures.

Firstly, can they jump ship? Absolutely. 

Mudgee moved to Group 10 from the old Group 14 competition, now called the Castlereagh Cup, in the 1990s, while Cobar moved from Group 11 to the smaller Barwon Darling Cup as recently as last season, albeit in completely different circumstances to the potential Fishies transfer.

Cobar was down on numbers and quality, while CYMS say they’re brimming with both.

Essentially, clubs move. It happens. It will continue to happen.

So, secondly, should Dubbo CYMS be allowed to move?

That’s the tricky part.

Who’s decision is it? Dubbo CYMS’? Group 11’s? Country Rugby League’s?

Everyone will probably get a say.

Initially anyway, and in all fairness too, the proposal will get its first response via a vote at the Group 11 annual general meeting on Sunday in Dubbo, where the seven other clubs – Dubbo Macquarie, Dubbo Westside, Nyngan Tigers, Narromine Jets, Wellington Cowboys, Parkes Spacemen and defending premiers Forbes Magpies – will get to express their views on the potential flip.

In all likelihood, and this is their right as stakeholders in Group 11, the other clubs will quash the CYMS proposal on Sunday.

For me, I’ll be stunned if any of the clubs will want a CYMS-less premiership, as loathed as the Fishies are in Group 11.

Money talks, and each and every club in the competition would make plenty of money when CYMS travel to their home grounds.

So based on that, they’re right to shoot down the proposal.

Aside from dollars and cents, a Group 11 competition without a dominant force is like the current day Australian cricket team – it’s not worth watching.

The fabric of Group 11 has been forged on long runs of dominance, with the little one-team towns then building to a point in time where they’re strong enough to knock over the then-big dogs.

It’s sport in all its glory.

Wellington and Cobar dominated the 90s. Parkes was strong during the 80s. It goes in cycles.

And since 2000, it’s been all Dubbo CYMS.

The Fishies have won nine of the 16 grand finals played since the turn of the millennium.

Tim Ryan’s side went through the 2016 Group 11 first grade competition undefeated, light years ahead of the rest of the field, until Forbes produced a remarkable 26-22, come-from-behind grand final win, the Magpies’ first decider triumph since 1987.

It’s a victory now part of Group 11 folklore.

A triumph that, you could easily argue, wouldn’t have been as special had it been against an opposition other than the undefeated, minor premiers in their own backyard.

Still, CYMS’ premiership record now stands at 10 deciders, nine wins since 2000 – an enviable record, and one the club is confident will continue to blossom should it stay in Group 11.

Again, it’s hard to argue against that sentiment. 

CYMS’ proposal outlines the city of Dubbo’s growth compared to that of the smaller towns the rugby league club competes against in Group 11.

Dubbo is sitting around the 45,000-people mark, while Parkes, the competition’s next most populated centre is a touch over 10,000 people.

The numbers dwindle further when you go through Forbes, Nyngan, Narromine and Wellington.

It’s chalk and cheese, really.

The board says with a growth rate of 1.6 per cent annually, and with a expanding junior base at St John’s Dubbo, there’s no slowing the CYMS juggernaut while it continues to play out of Group 11.

That’s what the numbers say, anyway.

A little club like Forbes might argue the numbers don’t add up to much when you don’t have the premiership trophy in your cabinet.

Regardless, where does that leave the green and whites and their numbers?

The obvious answer, for them, is Group 10.

Clubs in Orange and Bathurst, will similar sized populations and growth, is the main lure for Dubbo’s CYMS club.

While, generally, the rugby league is far more competitive across the board in the Western Rams’ most eastern competition.

A total of 10 competition points separated Dubbo CYMS and second placed Macquarie after the regular season in 2016.

Just five competition points separated Orange CYMS, minor premiers, to the fifth-placed Mudgee Dragons in Group 10.

Group 10 president Linore Zamparini said a potential switch for Dubbo would open up a can of worms in terms of teams chopping and changing competitions at will.

If Dubbo CYMS comes across to play in Group 10, what’s stopping a club that struggled in 2016 making the move over to Group 11. Orange Hawks anybody?

The two blues, or Orange CYMS for that matter, are better positioned to play in Group 11 than any Dubbo side is to contest Group 10, with Parkes, Forbes, Wellington all an hour or so away.

Group 10 can’t afford to lose either those sides, Zamparini knows this, so he’s wary of any sort of warm welcome for Dubbo’s best rugby league team.

Sunday’s Group 11 AGM is a watershed moment for the game in this area. I’d love to see Dubbo CYMS in Group 11, I just don’t think Group 11 can afford to lose them.