Group 11 secretary Paul Loxley admits he feels sorry for league tag and reserve grade players this season and says some "big decisions" will need to be made in regards to western competition structure in 2023.
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While the inaugural editions of Peter McDonald Premiership first grade and Western Under 18s competitions have received plenty of praise for bringing Group 11 and Group 10 teams together this year, it's been largely frustrating for the other two grades.
League tag and reserve grade remained in their original Group 11 and Group 10 competitions this season. That means when first grade and under 18s sides have played crossover matches against teams from the other competition, the other two grades have been somewhat left out in the cold.
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More crossover games are to played this weekend, in what is round 12 of the first grade and under 18s seasons. The Group 11 league tag and reserve grade competitions have played just seven games and only have three regular season matches remaining.
While some Group 11 league tag sides have played trial games against Group 10 rivals during crossover weekends it hasn't been a regular occurrence, and Loxley said the lack of game-time will be discussed at Saturday's Group 11 meeting and most likely many more in the coming months.
"I think when we first kicked it off we hoped there would be more league tag and reserve grade games on the crossover weekends and if that had been the case it wouldn't be so stop-start," he said.
"I think it's an issue we're going to have to consider for next year. There's a lot of considerations and things being thrown at us but I do feel sorry for them. Especially reserve grade.
"It will be interesting to see what happens on Saturday and what the clubs say about the competition."
With league tag and reserve grades sides having no competition points to play for on crossover weekends and travel to the likes of Orange, Bathurst or Lithgow regularly required, organising those trial games has proved a hurdle for many clubs.
Dubbo sides CYMS and Macquarie have both pushed for regular league tag crossover trial matches when possible, and both have stated their preference to be part of a western-wide league tag competition in the future.
It was also only late last month when Orange CYMS league tag captain Tori Moore questioned the current format while giving a post-match television interview.
"I just think it's too inconsistent," she said.
"It's really hard when you're not playing every week. You train twice a week to potentially not have a game for two or three weeks."
What a potential western-wide league tag competition would look like next year is also expected to be a topic of conversation in coming months.
While all six Group 11 clubs currently field teams in all four grades, Mudgee doesn't have a team in the Group 10 competition.
That, combined with the crossover matches, has meant the Group 10 season has been more inconsistent than Group 11 and there has regularly been weekends with just one match played.
Ensuring being part of a western competition is worthwhile for Group 11 sides is therefore a focus for Loxley.
"We're stronger in league tag than Group 10," Loxley added.
"Not every club in Group 10 has a league tag side and that surprised me.
"We'd have to check the numbers and go from there. It's going to be interesting to see what happens and there's some big decisions to make in regards to next year."
Despite the stop-start nature of both the Group 11 league tag and reserve grade competitions, Loxley has been pleased by what he's seen from both this year.
Macquarie sits unbeaten at the top of the reserve grade ladder while CYMS is second and Forbes and Nyngan currently have ownership of the other top four positions.
The league tag season has been all about CYMS up to this point as they are unbeaten at the top while Parkes and Macquarie have also impressed at times.