Group 11 fanatics hoping to experience a full weekend of footy action will be forced to pick and choose where and when they watch this week, after scheduling clashes have resulted in both the major and minor semi-finals occurring on the same day.
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The news will come as a particular blow to supporters of CYMS, Forbes and Wellington, who have teams present in all four competitions' finals and will now have to miss out on seeing them all compete in person, Parkes fans, who have teams competing in both the minor and major semi-finals will also have to miss a game.
"Everyone will be disadvantaged by this," Group 11 Secretary Paul Loxley said of the unfortunate circumstances.
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The group 11 by-laws, which ensure that every team that makes it to finals footy gets to play a home game during that period, limited the board's options in response to the field at Apex Oval being occupied with junior Rugby Union semi-finals on the Saturday, and the field in Nyngan being occupied by the Bogan Bulls on Saturday.
"If you make the top five, the top four sides are guaranteed a semi-final with their first grade team playing, if we didn't do what we did this weekend and Forbes beat Nyngan, then they wouldn't have got a home semi-final," Loxley said.
Loxley noted that the changes flew in the face of nearly seventy years of football tradition, but said no other fixes were available after contacting Dubbo Regional Council to try and make alternative arrangements.
"I asked the council what didn't we do this year that I'd done in the previous two years that made it so we weren't able to pick up our bookings that were on the draw we'd provided, but we're still waiting on a response."
The decision will make it harder for all clubs represented in the finals to field first aid officers, which Loxley noted, but will also make it a bigger financial strain, with all clubs now unliekly to have full crowds at all their games.
"Of course we're concerned about the impact on crowds, so many people would have gone to both games in previous years, and that's the main way the groups get their money to fund things," Loxley said.
"I'm sure it will have an impact on the crowd numbers for both places."
"I know in my own heart I voted for the right thing to do, particularly for Nyngan, and the majority of the board agreed with me."
"We haven't got a crystal ball and we don't have the position of hindsight to know that Nyngan wouldn't have a ground available."
The change to scheduling will now mean that both the minor and major semi-finals will play out on Sunday, August 25, with the majors occuring at Apex Oval, and the minors in Nyngan.