Mid West Cup

Last updated

Mid West Cup
Sport Rugby league
Instituted1913
Inaugural season1913
Ceased2021
Re-formed2022
CountryFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
Most recent premier Parramatta colours.svg CSU Mungoes (2021)
Most titles Scotland colours.svg 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.

Contents

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.

Current 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 will continue in this format for 2023.

ClubCity/TownHome GroundNo. of TitlesPremiershipsNotes
Townsville Blackhawks colours.png Blackheath Blackcats Blackheath Jubilee Park101980, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2005, 2015, 2018
Scotland colours.svg Carcoar Crows Carcoar Carcoar Oval131931, 1949, 1950, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1994, 2022
Skolscolours.svg Kandos Waratahs Kandos Waratah Park71972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013
Sunshine Coast Colours.svg Portland Colts Portland Kremer Park31984, 1998, 2008

Former Clubs

2021 Season Teams

Five teams competed in the 2021 season including former Group 10 side Oberon Tigers, with the women's grade having six teams (Kandos being the extra). The teams were:

ClubCity/TownHome GroundNo. of TitlesPremiershipsNotes
Parramatta colours.svg CSU Mungoes Bathurst Diggings Oval51975, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021Joined Woodbridge Cup
Skolscolours.svg Kandos Waratahs‡ Kandos Waratah Park71972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013Competed in League Tag only, joined new Community Cup
Canadacolours.png Lithgow Bears Lithgow Tony Luchetti Showground22010, 2011Disbanded
Wellington colours.svg Oberon Tigers Oberon Oberon Sports Ground22003, 2020Joined Woodbridge Cup
Sunshine Coast Colours.svg Portland Colts‡ Portland Kremer Park31984, 1998, 2008Joined new Community Cup
LebanonRLcolours.png Orange United Warriors Orange Wade Park 0N/AJoined Woodbridge Cup

‡ indicates active participant in the Mid West Community Cup

Former Teams (1913–2022)

More than 40 teams have reportedly featured in the Mid West Cup over the course of its history. [3] They include:

ClubNo. of PremiershipsPremiership YearsMoved to
Barry11932Amalgamated with Neville
Barry-Neville21952, 1953Disbanded
Newtown colours.svg Binnaway Bombshells0NA Castlereagh Cup
North Sydney colours.svg Burrangong Bears0NoneDisbanded
Manly Sea Eagles colours.svg Blayney Bears 31922, 1970, 2006 Group 10 Rugby League
New South Wales colours.svg Blayney Blues11923Disbanded
Blayney Institute11948Disbanded
Australian colours.svg Blayney Militia21924, 1925Disbanded
New South Wales colours.svg Blayney Waratahs21926Disbanded
Browns Creek21927, 1928Disbanded
Canobolas0NADisbanded
Redcliffe colours.svg Coolah Kangaroos 0NA Group 14 Rugby League
Parramatta colours.svg CSU Bathurst Mungoes51975, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021Joined Woodbridge Cup
Cullen Bullen0NADisbanded
Ireland colours.svg Dunedoo Swans 0NA Castlereagh Cup
Cronulla colours.svg Gulgong Terriers 51987, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007 Castlereagh Cup
Canadacolours.png Lithgow Bears22010, 2011Disbanded
Mandurama11918NA
Saintscolours.svg Manildra Rhinos 0NA Woodbridge Cup
Western Suburbs colours.svg Merriwa Magpies 0NA Group 14 Rugby League
Mitchell College11975Disbanded
Balmain colours.svg Mudgee Tigers 11996Disbanded
Millthorpe11951Disbanded
Neville11913Amalgamated with Barry
Newbridge11914Disbanded
Wellington colours.svg Oberon Tigers 22003, 2020Joined Woodbridge Cup
Redscolours.svg Orange Barbarians0NADisbanded
Ipswich Colours.svg Orange Old Boys/Our Boys0NADisbanded
LebanonRLcolours.png Orange United Warriors0N/AJoined Woodbridge Cup
Rockley11956Disbanded
Mackay Cutters colours.svg Villages United12015Disbanded
Barrowcolours.svg Wallerawang Warriors 61976, 1977, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2017Disbanded
Woodstock11983Disbanded

History

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 will expand 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.

Premierships

See also

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References

  1. 100 years of Lithgow football
  2. Mid West New Era Cup to feature eight and possibly nine clubs in 2020 in Western Advocate , 4 December 2019
  3. 100 years of Lithgow football
  4. Stanbridge, Gwende (2019). The Blayney Citizens' Cup 1913-2019.