Bathurst District Football's men and women senior competitions get underway this Sunday, which will begin a five month slog as teams battle it out to be crowned champions. 

In men's Premier League, the competition has been cut from nine teams to seven, after the withdrawal of Cowra Eagles and a second CSU team.

But in women's, the competition has slightly increased, one extra team from last year bringing the total teams up to seven, with Cowra Eagles, Millthorpe Tigers and Mudgee Wolves all joining the big time in 2019, following the departure of Abercrombie and Collegians.

After suffering a heartbreaking loss in the decider in 2017, Panorama Red were finally crowned Bathurst District Football Premier League champions for the first time in 2018.

Two goals from Jacob Soetens and another for Jaiden Culbert delivered a 3-1 win against Mudgee Wolves back in September, 2018, but the team won't have their grand final heroes in 2019.

Culbert has signed on to play for the Western NSW Mariners, with Soetens joining Panorama's Black side.

They'll also be without their captain Brent Osborne, an injury picked up over the summer expected to keep him ruled out for the first half of the season. 

CSU, who fielded a Red and White side in 2018, will revert to just one team in the Premier League this season.

They're the team that presents the biggest unknown out of all the top-flight clubs, with a constant turnover of players at the university providing a challenging but also fun task for the club's coaches.

This year, CSU will be co-coached by Mitch Kunnen and Brent Russell and the Stags, as they are referred to by their fans, will be looking to be crowned champions of the men's top division for the first time since 2017. 

"We actually lost more players than we've gained, which means we had to recruit from the other first grade team from last year," Kunnen said. "We've also brought a couple of players up from second grade as well.

"It's about working together as a team and bonding together well, so we'll make it work this year.

"What we'll be looking to do is play some good football, score some goals and get a W on the weekend. If it's against someone like Panorama, even better." 

Abercrombie, a club founded back in 2013, will be looking to return to the Premier League championship circle for the first time since 2015.

The club fielded two sides in the top flight last year - Navy and Gold - with the former falling a game short of the decider last season.

Abercrombie president Andrew Scott said the number one goal for the club is to win this year's grand final.

"We'll see if we can do it," he said. "We've got a pretty solid side this year.

"Both teams have been together for a little while, so there's a core group of players that will stay together. If there's any new players, they'll get graded into each team appropriately."

The season starts on Sunday with three games at 3pm - Red and Black playing each other in a massive Panorama derby, Abercrombie Gold hosting Mudgee Wolves and Lithgow Workman's Club travelling to Bathurst to play Abercrombie Navy. All three games will be played at Proctor Park.

CSU have the bye.

CSU may have been crowned minor premiers during the regular season in 2018, but it was Panorama who were crowned champions, coming from 1-0 behind to claim a 2-1 win in the grand final, the Goats maiden women's Premier League title.

Now after a long period of dominance from CSU, Panorama will be looking to assert their authority on the competition. 

They've welcomed some valuable Western NSW Mariners experience into the squad with the likes of Madi Pearce and Laura Risch, while the club has retained the familiar faces in likes of reliable centre back Kate Holden and keen goal scorer Hayley Cheney. 

Eglinton was a team that finished a game short of the grand final, going down to Panorama in the preliminary final.

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In 2019, the team, coached by Ian Crook, will be looking to game a further and make the grand final.

A bulk of Eglinton originally played for Macquarie United, but came over to Eglinton at the start of 2017 and player Kaitlyn Crook said the club has been extremely supportive of the senior women's side. 

"They were so welcoming when we first came across," she said.

"Anything we wanted, they said we could have. They've loved us ever since and I think it's reflected this year; we've got three girls all on the Eglinton committee. 

"This will also be our first year with two female sides too, with a team in third grade as well as first grade."

The season starts on Sunday with three games at 3pm - Millthorpe Tigers will host Mudgee Wolves at Redmond Oval, while Panorama play Macquarie United and Eglinton take on Cowra Eagles, both at Proctor Park.

CSU have the bye. 

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