Grand final rematches penned in for Blowes and New Holland Cup's opening rounds in 2023

Orange Emus will play host to the Bathurst Bulldogs at Endeavour Oval when the latter begins their title defence on April 15.

In other opening round matches Forbes Platypi will begin their quest for a return to Blowes Cup finals with a home game against Cowra Eagles while the Orange City will welcome the Dubbo Kangaroos to town.

The New Holland Cup draw also released earlier in the week, with three-time defending champions Parkes Boars set to start the season on April 15 with a grand final rematch of their own against Mudgee Wombats.

Narromine Gorillas host Dubbo Rhinos in the other round one contest while CSU has the bye.

Central West Rugby Union CEO Jarrod Simpson said that it's always great to have blockbuster games getting the season underway.

"We try and get those sorts of games going early because they are looked forward to by a lot of people," he said.

"We're lucky enough to be able to do that in round one, because there are limitations on what you can do in a six-team draw so it's great to be able to do that."

Simpson said that there were a couple of considerations to be made for the draw but the draws came together relatively smoothly.

"Some clubs have requests. It's Orange City's 50^th year, so they've got a request to play their derby with Orange Emus during their reunion. Those are the sort of things you must make sure happens," he said.

"Cowra has a Shute Shield game between Norths and Eastwood so they need to be hosting on those days. Dubbo, due to council doing restorative work on their ground, means they can't be at home for their first round.

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It's expected that this draw will simply be able to be flipped for the 2024 season.

That season shapes up as a massive year for several clubs.

"Since the competition was re-aligned in 2018 this is the first time that we'll be doing the draw in a two-year cycle," Simpson said.

"We'll hopefully just flip this draw next year and give clubs some certainty around their scheduling for next year.

"Next year will be 150 years of rugby in Bathurst and 125 years of rugby in Dubbo so it gives those two clubs an opportunity to begin planning things."

The last round of the Blowes Cup regular season is set for August 5 and the New Holland competition will have its last round game on July 29.

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