There's been some remarkable moments on the field during the past decade of Group 11 action.
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Thrilling finals games which have gone down to the wire, scintillating displays of attacking quality, individual performances that will live long in the memory.
But so many of the game's biggest moments during the past 10 years have played out off the field.
And few have been bigger than John Grey's mid-season switch from Macquarie to fierce rivals Dubbo CYMS.
This is the first in our Moments That Mattered series.
THE MOMENT
Things had been bubbling behind the scenes for some time but it had largely been kept quiet so when Grey announced his resignation as Macquarie captain-coach in May of 2014 it sent shock-waves through the competition.
All things had seemed golden up to that point.
Grey left Group 11 after a junior career with Narromine and spent years in the Manly lower grade system and played alongside the likes of Will Hopoate, Kieran Foran, Daly Cherry-Evans, and Jarrod Waerea-Hargreaves in the under 20s.
But the outside back returned to Group 11 ahead of the 2012 season, signing with the Raiders, and the following year he took on the captain-coach's role.
The Raiders made the preliminary final that year and it seemed the blue half of Dubbo would have plenty to cheer about in 2014 as Grey led his side to top spot after winning the first four games of the season.
Grey tendered his resignation after a series of demands he made couldn't be guaranteed by the club's executive committee.
Weeks of negotiation, wheeling and dealing, meeting with clubs, and even discussion with the Country Rugby League (CRL) followed as Grey fought to keep playing footy.
Six clubs enquired about Grey's services following his departure from Macquarie but Grey ultimately opted to join the Raiders' fiercest rivals, CYMS.
But the drama didn't stop there.
What made the move so difficult was a fee Macquarie placed on Grey's head after he announced his resignation.
The issue was sent to the Country Rugby League to be settled only for the CRL to side with the Raiders and state any side wishing to sign Grey would have to stump up the cash.
CYMS' first offer was rejected by then Raiders president Mark Meredith and his club but the two local rivals came to an agreement, with the details of that being kept confidential.
That was in June of 2014 as Grey got his wish and put pen to paper with CYMS.
"It's felt like it's gone on for months and months because it's something that I've lived and breathed every day for the last 27 days," Grey said at the time.
"I was even thinking 'will I ever get to play again?' and I'm just so stoked that everything is behind us now and we can move on and I get a chance to play footy and more importantly I get a chance to play out the year, which is something I thought was the furthest from a possibility."
LOOKING BACK
While thinking about what turned into one of the more ugly incidents of the past decade, Grey wasn't all too keen to spend much time talking about it.
And that's understandable given the relationships he had at the time with Macquarie and the success he's gone on to have with CYMS.
"To be honest, it was obviously a pretty big issue and it played out publicly," he said.
To be honest, it was obviously a pretty big issue and it played out publicly.
- John Grey, looking back at the switch.
Details of Grey's letter to the Raiders were reported at the time for all to see.
The letter outlined five non-negotiable demands including that he, as head coach of the club's first grade side, would:
- Construct and implement training sessions.
- Receive input from the club, through then president Mark Meredith, regarding first grade team selections but ultimately make any final decisions.
- Be the first point of contact if any issues were raised directly or indirectly about any senior or first grade players
The other two obligations he wanted from the club were that first grade game day interchanges be completed by either Meredith, or lower grade coaches and that the club's current retention committee remain in charge of any further recruitment of players in 2014.
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"The way I saw it I was employed to do a job and I wanted control over that job," Grey said during those days in 2014.
"I'm happy to listen to opinions from people within the club but I believe ultimately those final decisions should rest with the first grade coach.
"Ultimately the buck stops with the coach and I wanted things to be transparent. I don't think it was unreasonable to have those points from the letter put in place.
"The disappointing thing is I didn't see this coming really."
Macquarie president Mark Meredith stuck to his guns at the time, as he had every right to.
"John is one of the most professional, dedicated people I've come across but his way of wanting to control things, which were very much non-negotiable, was different to the way the club has run," the former president said at the time.
"It was quite apparent that no compromise could be met."
THE IMPACT
The impact of the departure was immediate.
Macquarie lost the week's after Grey's resignation and went on to get knocked out in the second week of finals after finishing the regular season in third.
CYMS, meanwhile, finished as premiership winners.
Was Grey too hard-willed and demanding with the Raiders at the time? Was the Macquarie hierarchy unfair on its captain-coach? Those arguments were had now then and could still be had now.
Looking back, both could probably have done things differently.
But what isn't in doubt is the impact of Grey's departure. It's one still being felt now.
It's worth noting Grey is the last Raiders coach to score a derby win over CYMS and no Macquarie side has made it as far as the preliminary final since 2013.
And it's not since Jade Williams' stint at the Raiders in 2011 and 2012 has a coach completed two full seasons at the helm of the club.
The Grey departure alone can't be used as the reason behind the Raiders' recent slump but only now the club seems to be getting back ready to launch a premiership assault.
Ironically, it's with a player who used to call CYMS home now at the helm.
Alex Ronayne has taken over as captain-coach of Macquarie heading into 2020, the start of a decade the Raiders will be hoping is much less dramatic and much more successful.