TEMORA, Cootamundra and Young might have bailed on the Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) competition, but the Junee Rams aren’t going anywhere.
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The third grade runners-up are sizing up Wagga clubs to partner with for next season.
Temora, Cootamundra and Young have been plagued by roster and injury issues, with the breakaway clubs struggling to fill out the number of teams needed for SIRU.
Filling out rosters was a problem Junee attempted to assist Cootamundra with this year, but it failed spectacularly for the Rams as they were only left with one home game.
Club captain Gus MacLennan said several players backed up for Cootamundra and played both third and second grade games.
“It cost us a few players with season ending injuries playing with Cootamundra,” he said.
MacLennan said at the Rams’ annual general meeting there was a unanimous push to keep Junee in SIRU.
“About 70 per cent of our players have a strong link to Junee but many live in Wagga,” he said.
MacLennan said the prospect of entering another competition such as the Central West or Canberra was rejected because of the extensive travel requirements.
“A move to another competition will only mean more travel,” he said.
“We have always wanted to stay with SIRU, we were never looking to move to a ‘one-town-one-team’ competition.”
The Rams goal for 2016 is to find a Wagga team to work with as their third grade side.
Unfortunately, the club will need to wait until the close of nominations for the division which is in March.
“We’re up in the air until next year.”
Despite the uncertainty, the Rams will begin a recruitment drive to help bolster their ranks for the season.
“We want to find players who are keen for a bit of football, without the week to week commitment,” MacLennan said.
Describing it as “competitive social football”, MacLennan said players are keen to avenge their premiership loss to the Griffith Blacks.
At the AGM in November Tubby Fitzgerald returned to the president’s role with Mick Commins as vice-president and Harry Fitzgibbon becoming treasurer.