The dust has settled on Central West Rugby Union's competitions and as such we will once again be putting together the team of the year, to give a nod to the best of the best in every position over 2019.
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But this year's a bit different.
While for the past few years our resident 'experts' - and that term is used loosely - have agonised over selections and come up with their team of the year, but this year will resurrect The People's Choice Team Of The Year.
That's right, this year's team of the year will (almost) be entirely up to you and will include the Blowes Clothing Cup, New Holland Agriculture Cup, Oilsplus Cups and the Westfund Ferguson Cup too.
Our 'gurus' will still have their say in the initial nomination process, before the public votes and ultimately decides which players will make the side from one to 15.
For each individual position - hooker, No.8, halfback, five-eighth and fullback - our 'authorities' will nominate five players across those four competitions and the player in each with the highest number of votes will make the cut.
For the multiple-player positions - prop, second row, flanker, centre and wing - our 'masters' will nominate eight players and the public will vote on two each, with the two highest-polling players to be named.
"While there's obviously specialists in each of those positions, for instance some props are only looseheads or some centres only play inside, for the most part in the Central West versatility is a real feature so we thought it prudent not to limit or even pigeon-hole players in that regard," ACM reporter Matt Findlay explained.
"We used this concept a few years ago and it was a roaring success and we certainly realise the main stakeholders are the fans and the readers, so we absolutely want to give them the chance to have their say rather than just potentially read our opinions.
"There's been some incredible individual players in 2019 and we really hope this helps highlight their efforts, because any player will tell you the most-prized accolades are the ones your peers and the fans vote on, or decide. It'll be interesting to see who eventually makes the cut."
The voting will kick-off position-by-position on Friday, September 13, beginning with the props and hooker that day, with the full schedule below and voting remaining open until the final team is announced on the afternoon of Thursday, September 26.
FULL VOTING SCHEDULE
- Friday, September 13 - Props and hooker
- Monday, September 16 - Second-rowers and flankers
- Tuesday, September 17 - No.8
- Wednesday, September 18 - Halfback and five-eighth
- Thursday, September 19 - Centres and wingers
- Friday, September 20 - Fullback
- Saturday, September 21 - Coach