Sport | Rugby league |
---|---|
Instituted | 1913 |
Inaugural season | 1913 |
Ceased | 2021 |
Re-formed | 2022 |
Country | Australia |
Most recent premier | Blackheath Blackcats (2023) |
Most titles | Carcoar Crows (13 titles) |
Website | Group 10 Homepage |
The Mid West Community Cup is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales. The premiers are awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest continuously awarded trophy in Country Rugby League, with Neville the first recipients in 1913. [1] For all intents and purposes, it is a third division competition in the Group 10/11 area.
In its last season under its original model in 2021, the competition encompassed teams from Bathurst, Kandos, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and Portland. [2] Some of the remaining clubs in the competition merged into the Woodbridge Cup in 2022 after two incomplete seasons due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the competition reformed in late 2022 under a new community cup model similar to Group 17. The three clubs that emerged from the ailing original format of the competition to join the Woodbridge Cup did not rejoin the competition as they sought a higher standard of football, paving the way for the return of other older clubs.
Three clubs are currently listed as part of the Mid West Community Cup competition. The inaugural edition of the competition ran as a four-team single round-robin with finals to follow, with a total four week season in 2022 and in 2023. The competition expanded to seven teams for 2024.
Club | City/Town | Home Ground | No. of Titles | Premierships |
---|---|---|---|---|
Blackheath Blackcats | Blackheath | Jubilee Park | 10 | 1980, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2005, 2015, 2018, 2023 |
Carcoar Crows | Carcoar | Carcoar Oval | 13 | 1931, 1949, 1950, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1994, 2022 |
Kandos Waratahs | Kandos | Waratah Park | 7 | 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013 |
Portland Colts | Portland | Kremer Park | 3 | 1984, 1998, 2008 |
Rockley Bulls | Rockley | Rockley Sports Ground | 1 | 1956 |
Wallerawang Warriors | Wallerawang | Wallerawang Oval | 6 | 1976, 1977, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2017 |
Woodstock Panthers | Woodstock | Woodstock Showground | 1 | 1983 |
Seven teams will compete in the 2024 season including former Group 10 side Oberon Tigers, with the women's grade having six teams (Kandos being the extra). The teams were:
Club | City/Town | Home Ground | No. of Titles | Premierships | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
CSU Mungoes | Bathurst | Diggings Oval | 5 | 1975, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021 | Joined Woodbridge Cup |
Kandos Waratahs‡ | Kandos | Waratah Park | 7 | 1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013 | Competed in League Tag only, joined new Community Cup |
Lithgow Bears | Lithgow | Tony Luchetti Showground | 2 | 2010, 2011 | Disbanded |
Oberon Tigers | Oberon | Oberon Sports Ground | 2 | 2003, 2020 | Joined Woodbridge Cup |
Portland Colts‡ | Portland | Kremer Park | 3 | 1984, 1998, 2008 | Joined new Community Cup |
Orange United Warriors | Orange | Wade Park | 0 | N/A | Joined Woodbridge Cup |
‡ indicates active participant in the Mid West Community Cup
More than 40 teams have reportedly featured in the Mid West Cup over the course of its history. [3] They include:
Club | No. of Premierships | Premiership Years | Moved to |
---|---|---|---|
Barry | 1 | 1932 | Amalgamated with Neville |
Barry-Neville | 2 | 1952, 1953 | Disbanded |
Binnaway Bombshells | 0 | NA | Castlereagh Cup |
Burrangong Bears | 0 | None | Disbanded |
Blayney Bears | 3 | 1922, 1970, 2006 | Group 10 Rugby League |
Blayney Blues | 1 | 1923 | Disbanded |
Blayney Institute | 1 | 1948 | Disbanded |
Blayney Militia | 2 | 1924, 1925 | Disbanded |
Blayney Waratahs | 2 | 1926 | Disbanded |
Browns Creek | 2 | 1927, 1928 | Disbanded |
Canobolas | 0 | NA | Disbanded |
Coolah Kangaroos | 0 | NA | Group 14 Rugby League |
Cullen Bullen | 0 | NA | Disbanded |
Dunedoo Swans | 0 | NA | Castlereagh Cup |
Gulgong Terriers | 5 | 1987, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007 | Castlereagh Cup |
Mandurama | 1 | 1918 | NA |
Manildra Rhinos | 0 | NA | Woodbridge Cup |
Merriwa Magpies | 0 | NA | Group 14 Rugby League |
Mitchell College | 1 | 1975 | Disbanded |
Mudgee Tigers | 1 | 1996 | Disbanded |
Millthorpe | 1 | 1951 | Disbanded |
Neville | 1 | 1913 | Amalgamated with Barry |
Newbridge | 1 | 1914 | Disbanded |
Orange Barbarians | 0 | NA | Disbanded |
Orange Old Boys/Our Boys | 0 | NA | Disbanded |
Villages United | 1 | 2015 | Disbanded |
The Mid West Cup was originally organised as a rugby union competition but made the switch to rugby league after the First World War. The first winner of the competition was Neville and the club awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest trophy still in regular use in Country Rugby League. [4]
While the competition was traditionally based in around the Blayney region, in the 1950s it expanded into Rockley, Carcoar and Cullen Bullen before it was absorbed in the Group 10 Rugby League and renamed the Group 10 Second Division in 1970. It adopted its current name of the Mid West Cup in 1990. The competition only featured four teams in 2019, including CSU Mungoes, Lithgow Bears, Orange Barbarians and Portland Colts, but expanded to eight in 2020 with the inclusion of the reformed Blackheath Blackcats and Kandos Waratahs, Oberon Tigers (who have been relegated from Group 10) and the newly-formed Orange United.
The competition's last season under its original model was in 2021, and encompassed teams from Bathurst, Kandos, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and Portland. The three remaining clubs in the competition (CSU, Oberon and Orange United) merged into the Woodbridge Cup in 2022 after two incomplete seasons due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the competition reformed in late 2022 under a new community cup model similar to Group 17. The three clubs that emerged from the ailing original format of the competition to join the Woodbridge Cup did not rejoin the competition as they sought a higher standard of football, paving the way for the return of other older clubs such as Carcoar, as well as the introduction of Burrangong for the first time. Burrangong returned to the George Tooke Shield for 2023, with Blackheath rejoining the competition in their place.
Carcoar is a small town in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia, in Blayney Shire. In 2021, the town had a population of 271 people. It is situated just off the Mid-Western Highway 258 km west of Sydney and 52 km south-west of Bathurst and is 720 m above sea level. It is located in a small green valley, with the township and buildings on both banks of the Belubula River. It is the third oldest settlement west of the Blue Mountains. Carcoar is a Gundungurra word meaning either 'frog' or 'kookaburra'. Nearby towns are Blayney, Millthorpe, Mandurama, Neville, Lyndhurst and Barry
Ilford is a village in New South Wales, Australia, beside the Crudine River within the Mid-Western Regional Council. It is located on the Castlereagh Highway, about 220 kilometres north-west of Sydney. At the 2016 census Ilford and the surrounding rural district had a population of 187, living in 65 private dwellings. The district also included 43 unoccupied private dwellings. Ilford was named after the English township of Ilford, from where early residents of the locality originated.
Blayney is a farming town and administrative centre with a population of 2,997 in 2021, in the Central West region of New South Wales, Australia. Situated on the Mid-Western Highway about 240 km (150 mi) west of Sydney, 35 km (22 mi) west of Bathurst and 863 m (944 yd) above sea-level, Blayney is the seat of Blayney Shire Council.
The Central West is a region in central New South Wales, Australia. The region is situated west of Sydney, which stretches from Lithgow in the east and to as far west as Lake Cargelligo, on the Lachlan River. The Central West is known for its attractions such as the Jenolan Caves, near Oberon and also wineries, as well as rural farmland and natural landscapes. The region includes major towns like, Bathurst, Orange, Mudgee, Lithgow, Parkes and Cowra. It has an area of 63,262 square kilometres (24,426 sq mi). The region also includes the sub-region known as the Central Tablelands, located in the eastern part of the region. The region known as the Orana, which includes the area surrounding Dubbo is typically classed as being a part of the Central West also.
Group 10 is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales, under the auspices of the New South Wales Rugby League. It had been under the control of Country Rugby League but that changed after the NSWRL agreed to a new constitution and the CRL voted to wind up its affairs immediately. The decisions was made on 19 October 2019 and the merger means that the aim of a unified administration of the sport in NSW was achieved over a year ahead of time.
Rylstone is a small town in New South Wales, Australia, in the Central Tablelands region within the Mid-Western Regional Council local government area. It is located on the Bylong Valley Way road route. At the 2021 census, Rylstone had a population of 904.
Kandos is a small town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia, within the Mid-Western Regional Council. The area is the traditional home of the Dabee tribe of the Wiradjuri people. The town sits beneath Cumber Melon Mountain, in a district formerly known as Coomber. Kandos shares its locality, employment and infrastructure with the neighbouring town Rylstone, 6 kilometres away. At the 2021 census, Kandos had a population of 1263.
The Clayton Cup is a trophy that was awarded by the Country Rugby League to the NSW country rugby league team with the best overall record for that season. To be eligible, the team must win the highest level of competition in its region. Usually the winner of the Clayton Cup goes through the season undefeated. In late 2019, the Country Rugby League was absorbed by the New South Wales Rugby League.
The Main Western Railway is a major railway in New South Wales, Australia. It runs through the Blue Mountains, and Central West regions. It is 825 kilometres (513 mi) long, of which 484 kilometres (301 mi) is currently operational.
The Castlereagh League is a rugby league competition in western New South Wales, Australia, run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. For all intents and purposes the competition is effectively the Group 14 Rugby League senior competition, and the league has re-obtained Group status as of 2023, but will not revert to the Group 14 name for branding reasons.
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bathurst (Australia) is a Latin Church suffragan diocese of the Metropolitan Archdiocese of Sydney, established in 1865, covering the Central West and Orana regions of New South Wales, Australia.
Portland is a town in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2016 census, Portland had a population of 2,424 people. The town was named after Australia's first cement works.
The Woodbridge Cup is a rugby league competition run by the New South Wales Country Rugby League. It encompasses smaller senior clubs in the Mid-West and Central West of the state. The neighbouring Mid-West Cup competition's remaining clubs merged into the league in 2022 when that league initially folded. For all intents and purposes, it is a second division competition in the Group 11 and from 2022, Group 10 areas.
The 2018 Group 10 Rugby League season was the 72nd season of premier competition of rugby league in the Central West area of New South Wales. It was run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. It was the sixth consecutive season to feature nine teams, after the re-admittance of the Blayney Bears in 2013.
The 2017 Group 10 Rugby League season was the 71st season of the premier competition of rugby league in the Central West area of New South Wales in 2017. It was run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. It was the fifth consecutive season to feature nine teams, after the re-admittance of the Blayney Bears in 2013.
The 2019 Group 10 Rugby League season was the 73rd season of the premier rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales. It was run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. It was the seventh consecutive season to feature nine teams, after the re-admittance of the Blayney Bears in 2013.
Oberon Tigers is an Australian rugby league football team based in the Central West town of Oberon. The Tigers first played in the Country Rugby League-controlled Group 10 Rugby League in the competition's inaugural season in 1947, before dropping out at the end of the 1951 season. The Tigers returned in 1954 and competed in Group 10 until the end of the 1996 season. It also had another two spells in the competition from 2005-2008 and 2011-2019. They now play in the Woodbridge Cup.
Clandulla is a village in New South Wales, Australia, within the Mid-Western Regional Council, about 225 kilometres north-west of Sydney. At the 2016 census Clandulla and the surrounding rural district had a population of 197, living in 61 private dwellings. The township and district also included 22 unoccupied private dwellings. Clandulla is bounded to the west and north by the Clandulla State Forest.