Peter McDonald to expand in 2023

Originally published in The Nyngan Weekly

Nyngan Tigers president Glen Neill has said the Peter McDonald Premiership hasn’t been the success the league thought it would be.

Neill and the Tigers club were against the new competition format from its inception, saying it was tearing group 11 down to save group 10.

After a league meeting on Saturday Neill said he left smiling, knowing “it’d sunk in [the competition] wasn’t the greatest thing they thought it would be”.

While the meeting ironed out details for the 2022 finals series, Neill said he was most pleased with the confirmation all club teams will be back together in 2023.

“There was a motion moved at the meeting that the Peter McDonald Cup is here to stay, and in next year’s competition all clubs will be required to field four teams.”

Neill said it had been difficult for the club this year only having two teams compete some weeks.

“The thing that was most noticeable to me, and was one of our arguments all the way though, is when you run a day with just two teams, financially it’s just not profitable.

“Not only that, we play footy for our town, we don’t want to be taking half our teams.”

“So far I think we’ve coped with the travel okay, but the idea of playing without our full complement of teams, it’s just not doable.”

Neill had been opposed to the Peter McDonald Premiership since its suggestion, partly due to the separation of teams.

On the surface introducing league tag and reserve grade would solve the issue of clubs being split across weeks, however Neill said that some clubs didn’t have tag teams.

“The thing we’ve put back on them now is Mudgee, for arguments sake, doesn’t have a league tag team.

“If they don’t get league tag, they don’t play in the competition. I think that would be fair, you want to be in this big grand competition, you front four teams.”

In order to help support clubs to travel during their cross-group games, the league promised reimbursement for fuel costs of bus trips.

Neill said that this weekend gone was the first time this year the Tigers have taken up the offer.

He has concerns though that this ‘sweetener’ to keep clubs happy won’t last forever

“As far as I know, they’re paying for the bus, but the big question there, is how long is that sustainable for anyone?”

There are only four games left for the Tigers this year and Neill said that without a proper final’s series for group 11, the end of the season will fall flat.

“The big disappointment for me is that in group 11, you play your last game of football for the year and it’s not going to be a true grand final. It just stops.

“It nearly defies what we’ve all been about.”