Bathurst Panthers' Hotham, St Pat's mentor Somers and their squads have been playing league tag at inconsistent intervals throughout the year due to the senior men's and under 18s Group 10 and 11 merger

Their comments come a day after Group 11 secretary Paul Loxley stated that "big decisions" would be needed around the competition ahead of the 2023 season.

The current setup has given Panthers just one game left this season on July 31, making it the only match scheduled for the team across the final five rounds.

Hotham said that such a setup makes it difficult to maintain interest in the game.

The Panthers coach said a carnival-style approach could be something organisers consider moving ahead.

"Something has to happen. The thing that worries me about a merger, similar to what the boys have, is the travelled involved and the fact that this is a second sport for a lot of the girls," she said.

"My opinion is that something along the line of carnivals rather than playing week-to-week could be a solutions. Perhaps something like playing Group 10 carnivals on a Friday night every few weeks and then maybe every second month doing a crossover carnival with Group 11 could be an option."

Hotham said it's important to capitalise on the next wave of junior talent entering the senior ranks by giving players an enticing competition to be a part of.

"The interest in the game is still there. We started playing in the senior competition 10 years ago so juniors have only just started pushing numbers up over the last few years," she said.

"I coached the under 11s and I could nearly make two teams from the numbers there, and it's been three years with numbers like that. It's about starting them young and getting them into the sport but the issue at seniors is keeping them involved.

"It's something that really needs to be looked at because it can't keep going on like this, but I'm not exactly sure what the solution is."

Somers also believes the stop-start nature of the competition could have repercussions if changes aren't made to the current setup.

"It's been a very stop-start season. It's hard to build momentum when you're playing, say, two weeks in a row and then having one or two weeks off depending when club byes and crossover games fall," the Saints coach said.

"Something needs to change next year to keep league tag alive in the Western area.

"The more games you can play on a regular basis is a good thing for all teams. Playing more games lets you build up skills and get consistency in your performances."

Pat's have been a dominant force in Group 10 over the past few seasons, currently on a winning streak going back more than two years.

They've enjoyed tough games in the past against Group 11 opponents and they'd appreciate the chance to make those a more recurring feature of their season.

Somers said the lack of consistency in week to week games has led to a different sort of atmosphere around the side in 2022.

"It definitely feels different this year," she said.

"You're trying to keep the team together and build combinations but that can be hard when you're only playing every second week.

"You've got players in and out because games being on Saturdays and Sundays affect girls with the other sports that they play. It's making it hard to find any flow.

"I understand that they probably needed the time to put something together but they need to look at all grades.

"League tag has been quite strong across Group 10 and Group 11 and I think it would have benefitted from being merged from the start but I guess time will tell to see how this year plays out and what they will do looking forward to the future."

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