GROUP 10 and 11 teams will need to carefully process the updated NSW Rugby League player points system ahead of a season already marked by significant change.
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As the two groups prepare to come together for the Peter McDonald Premiership this year they'll be doing so with a points cap to work under.
The changes to the points system have been a long-term collaboration between members from rugby league groups across the state throughout 2021, and has produced a standard system that can be applied across all competitions.
Under the new setup teams will have 100 points to use wisely across a starting 1 to 17 each week, with the most significant points hit being the use of an ex-NRL player - who will take up one quarter of the total on their own.
Former juniors stay with or returning to their club of origin will continue to accrue zero points, like in the current Group 10 arrangement, while a 25-point penalty will apply to a club bringing across a player from another team in their region.
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Group 10 board member Dennis Comerford, who was one of those involved in the creation of the new system, said a lot of co-operation has gone into the project.
"We really wanted to put the focus on clubs using juniors and trying to save money," he said.
"Each club that has a first grade side, like Group 10 and 11, are allocated 100 points. You could have 2,000 points worth of players in your club but in any game the players you put on the field can't go over 100.
"A local junior footballer - and it doesn't matter where they've been in their career - will be worth zero points. If you can put a name to that an example would be Daniel Mortimer, who is an Orange CYMS junior. He's gone back to Orange and is still regarded as a CYMS junior.
"An ex-NRL will take up a quarter of your points though. And if you take another first grade player from another Group that's also going to cost you points."
The system will be something unfamiliar to Group 11 clubs.
"Group 10 has had a points system for around seven to eight years ... so they won't have much of an issue getting their heads around this. A number of Groups throughout NSW have run their own system through the years while others have run without one, and Group 11 is one of those," Comerford said.
"The whole idea of the system is to level the playing field out so clubs can develop their own junior talent and bring them through to first grade. Rather than a club in the dollars going out to buy players to try and win a premiership it encourages clubs to bring through their own juniors."
It remains to be seen whether Group 10 and 11 will be considered separate groups when applying to the regional points penalty on players moving.
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Alexander Grant
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
Part of the Western Advocate's sports desk in Bathurst.
