BATHURST Bulldogs vice-president Brian Roberson believes creating a 2016 Central West Rugby Union draw to appease all clubs was always going to be an impossible task.
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The recent release of the draw, in which the Orange Emus, CSU and Parkes Boars will be forced to play an additional match, has drawn widespread disdain from clubs.
Roberson’s main problem with the draw has been a lack of communication provided by the CWRU board during its creation.
“The draw was never going to be optimal for any club. Some clubs have fared worse than others, but no clubs would be entirely satisfied,” he said.
“This is due to the competition structure and the impossible position of trying to develop an equitable draw with 11 teams, and a restricted time frame of 19 weeks.
“I agree with the sentiments of [Emus assistant coach] Andrew Logan regarding the questionable process leading up to the release of the draw and empathise with the unevenness of the whole competition. I have been critical of the process and stand by that.”
Roberson said the draw is a sign that an already complex region could become even harder to manage if the CWRU doesn’t come under review from a higher body.
“I feel it is a bigger picture than just Central West. This is something that will need to be reviewed by NSW Country Rugby or NSWRU,” he said.
“The structure of Central West rugby has organically grown over the past 10 to 15 years at the expense of South West Rugby, Southern Inland Rugby, Western Plains and New England.
“If Central West continues to absorb fringe clubs from other zones, we will become even more complex and unwieldy, leading to further unrest, extensive travel and impossible competition structures.
“I also feel for the cross-town rivals CSU who would have really benefited from having two byes and trying to coincide them with uni holidays. CSU is critical for a strong and vibrant Blowes Cup comp.”
Byes for the Bulldogs will come in rounds three and 14 on top of the season’s two general byes in May and June.
That means the Bulldogs will play the bulk of their matches in the back half of the season and it’s got Roberson worried about fatigue and injury management.
“We have four byes in total, which leads to a disjointed season – three of those byes occur in the first 11 weeks of the competition,” he said.
“The second part of the draw is long and challenging, with 10 weeks of comp and a further four weeks of finals football.
“For some clubs, that is three- and-a-half months of continuous football. This will be challenging, to say the least, to manage fatigue and injury.
“There is quite a deal of literature available which indicates that the majority of injuries occur in the second half of games and, more importantly, the back half of seasons.”
The first round fixture for the Bulldogs over the past few seasons has been a tough encounter against Orange Emus and 2016 will be no different.
Things won’t get any easier for the Bathurst club as the Bulldogs will have a trip to take on the Dubbo Kangaroos before the first bye arrives.
“We’ve got a baptism of fire taking on the premiers and then Dubbo, who were looking very strong towards the back half of 2015. We’ll be tested early,” Roberson said.
“The match against Emus will be a test of our depth early as they put 40 points on us a couple of times last season.”
Bulldogs will only play Orange City, Forbes Platypi and Cowra Eagles once in the regular season.