Group 10 and 11 clubs discuss possible 2022 merger during respective annual general meetings

While it was confirmed there will be no changes made to the upcoming 2021 Group 10 and 11 competitions across all grades, clubs across the region were given the chance on Sunday to give their feedback on what form a merged western competition would look like in future years.

Talks of a merger between the groups emerged over the past month following the release of the One State NSWRL Strategic Plan, which looked to create more efficient competition possibilities.

One proposal put forward by NSWRL is for Group 10 and 11 to merge into a 15-team competition featuring three conferences of five teams, where the top two finishers in each conference would progress to the finals along with the two next-best third placed finishers.

Group 10 president Linore Zamparini and his committee had other proposals laid out by Western Region manager Peter Clarke on Sunday morning and said the conference idea generated the most positive discussion.

"The clubs had some input and they've decided that it would be a good concept, but not in 2021. They want to start putting some things into place to get some heavy discussion going on it during 2021, so they could look at the possibility of something happening in 2022," he said.

"They liked the three conference option, which is 15 teams with a 12-round competition plus finals. Clubs were in favour of a shortened competition.

"When it got put on the table, with everyone in the one room, it's different from talking to clubs individually and it generated some good discussion."

One other option tabled was a 12-team league bringing both Groups together, but would force out smaller clubs from the competition.

Group 10 and 11 did come together this year under a conference system for the Western Youth League competition as part of a modified under 18s season.

Zamparini said there was no chance of having any changes made for the upcoming 2021 season after COVID-19 cancellations left several clubs assessing their player situations.

"The main concerns are player numbers for next year, because of the year off, and travel distances," he said.

"There will be a lot more discussion on it yet, but at least we have some direction on what we should be following.

"With the three conference concept everyone discussed that a bit, and when you keep it local for the first part of the season I think some didn't mind that. Some clubs thought that the travelling would be too great between the Groups but when they looked at this idea they thought 'Maybe not'.

"To start a competition next year and have a team like Lithgow travelling to Dubbo - that's a big day if you've got five grades playing. We've got to be mindful of that and see what we can sort through."

Another proposal put forward on Sunday, which was reportedly well received, was the creation of either an under 20s or 22s pre-season competition between Group 10 and 11 clubs.