The division formerly known as State League 1 will now become the third rung of the state’s highest-profile competition.

While effectively just a name change on paper, it shows that Football NSW consider the standard of the tier to now be at a level that justifies it being incorporated under the ‘Premier Leagues’ banner.

Solid results across the board have seen the Mariners maintain their spot in the division for the 2016 season.

Highlights from this year include the under 20s side taking out the title as well as the under 16s progressing to the grand final.

A member of that winning 20s squad was Lachlan Thomas, who was part of a Mariners group helping to run a junior clinic last Thursday and Friday.

“We get a bit of a better name on our league and possibly get promoted a bit more. Hopefully, we can work up through the league,” Thomas said of the change.

With both a new name to play under and a club still making encouraging steps forward each season, Thomas is excited to see what the future brings.

“There’s a lot coming through the youth now. They’ve been trying to focus on that. They’re trying to bring more players up for future years because we’re still not a very big club, we’re still growing,” he said.

Thomas, who also had a share of first grade starts this season, and his under 20s team are still coming down from the high of taking out the grand final.

“It was a very intense game, probably a great one to spectate. It was hard to play in and was very physical,” he said.

“I still play with a lot of the boys that I started with, which is good, and we’ve grown together, so that’s why we gel so well.”

State League 2 will now simply be known as State League.

Mariners will have two new teams to face next season.

Dunbar Rovers were promoted from the former State League 2 competition, while Sydney University were relegated from Premier League 2.