Bathurst Panthers and St Pat's fixtures confirmed for upcoming 2022 Peter McDonald Premiership

When the original draw was announced back in November, Panthers and St Pat's were scheduled to play only once, on the weekend of May 7-8.

Now the two Bathurst rivals will play twice and the two teams will contest the annual ANZAC Day Memorial Trophy on the weekend of April 30-May 1 at the Jack Arrow Sporting Complex.

St Pat's president Gary Goldsmith acknowledged NSW Rugby League's work in finalising the draw.

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"We acknowledge that it's really, really hard to do a draw as complex as this. You've got seven Group 10 teams, six Group 11 teams and it's very hard to get that balance 100 percent right," he said.

"To NSWRL's credit, they listened to the issues we raised and now there's two local derby games and they've got as close as Anzac Day, which is good.

"It's a big improvement and we'll have to see how 2022 goes."

The other local derby fixture will be played at Carrington Park on the weekend of May 28-29.

Both teams will play seven home games and seven away games, while having two byes.

Panthers still have some issues with the draws, with club manager Danny Dwyer indicating that the annual ANZAC Day Memorial Trophy should be played at Carrington Park rather than St Pat's due to the rotation system.

Goldsmith said St Pat's will do what they can to make sure Panthers can host the memorial derby.

Panthers are also remaining hopeful that they can play a curtain raiser to the NRL Bathurst match between Penrith and Newcastle on March 26, with the draw currently not catering for it, however, this may be a bit challenging as the fixture is two weeks before the start of the local competition.

The season is expected to kick-off on the weekend of April 9-10, with not a single round one fixture retained from the original draw, except for Forbes Magpies having the bye.

Bathurst Panthers will be away to Wellington Cowboys in what will be a clash between the last Group 10 and Group 11 first grade premiers, both teams winning their respective grand finals back in 2019.

St Pat's will have an away trip to Parkes.

In other games, Nyngan Tigers will host Orange CYMS, Dubbo CYMS is away to Orange Hawks, Mudgee Dragons will host Dubbo Macquarie and Cowra Magpies will mark its return to first grade by hosting Lithgow Workies.

While Wellington Cowboys made its intentions clear last month that it wouldn't be playing in the competition, the 2019 Group 11 premiers have been included in the draw.

Games will be played every weekend onwards, except for general round byes on April 16-17 and June 11-12 for Easter and the long weekend respectively.

St Pat's will only have two away games to Group 11 teams, both in the first two weeks against Parkes and Dubbo CYMS.

Panthers are away to Wellington in week one and Forbes on July 23-24.

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