The Cobar Junior Rugby League Club (CJRLC) will join the Group 14 competition this season after it was “given the boot” by the Dubbo & District Rugby League (DDJRL) competition.
CJRLC president Leighton Trudgett told The Cobar Weekly that initially the news of a forced move for the club, which came at short notice, caused a great deal of angst among their members, however he now sees it as being “a good thing for the club”.
Leighton said a decision made last month by the Cobar club’s Under 16’s team to move to the Group 14 Castlereagh competition prompted the DDJRL to re-think the future of the Cobar club’s other teams, Under 13s, Under 12s and Under 10s.
It was recommended that the Under 13s age group also move to Group 14 Castlereagh competition for the 2026 season and that the club look at moving their Mod League Under 10s and Under 12s teams to Castlereagh for the 2027 season.
This decision was supported by NSW Rugby League Area Manager Tim Del Guzzo.
“Overall, I personally think that this is the right move for all parties involved and better suits the need of our football communities and competitions,” Tim told the Cobar club.
Leighton said they consulted with their teams, families, club volunteers and committee members and they resolved to move the entire club to Group 14 for the 2026 season.
He said the Under 16s went to Castlereagh believing it would be in the best interest of their players to follow the senior grades.
He said some of the Roosters Under 16s are also playing in the Under 18s team this season and with the side made up of 14, 15 and 16 year olds, they would be more competitive in the Group 14 competition rather than the Dubbo competition whose Under 16s team are all 16 this year.
“It was hard to be competitive.
“If we go to Castlereagh, it’s going to be little towns wanting to play bush footy and not for cattle stations,” Leighton said.
He said the situation would have been similar for their Under 13s.
Rather than splitting up families who may have children playing in different grades, playing in different towns, the club would all move to the Castlereagh competition.
“That was the consensus of the whole club community and we’re excited to go that way.
“Group 14 have been very welcoming, they’ve checked in on us and they’ve encouraged us to come across,” he said.
“This is probably the direction we were heading in, following the senior grades, but it was a little bit sooner than we anticipated.”
Tim told the Cobar club that decisions like this can be difficult but he believes it’s in the best interests of the club and community.
“The consultative process that you followed, obviously shows that the Roosters are a tight knit group, and the decision to join Group 14 and align more with the seniors will no doubt see the club grow stronger moving forward,” Tim said.
Leighton feels moving together this year represents a positive and balanced outcome for their players, families and the wider community.
“We’re going to make it work,” Leighton said.
