The Northern competition will be made of nine teams, including Cumnock, who last contested the single grade competition in 2001.

Cumnock have picked up Nigel Strahan as their coach for the 2012 season.

Also in the Northern part of the competition will be Mudgee’s second side, who will usually play at home on the same day as the first side.

“When Mudgee are at home, as far as possible, both teams are at home,” Veenstra explained.

“Mudgee 2 will play at 1.30pm and Mudgee 1 will play at 3.15pm. We finish each round with a Mudgee derby.”

The Southern competition has also undergone changes, with Molong moving from the Northern division to Southern for 2012.

This also gives the Southern competition nine teams.

“With new teams coming in, there’s considerable interest in the competition and people want to play in it,” Veenstra said happily.

The CWRU competitions will have staggered starts in 2012, with the ANFD Cup Southern kicking off on March 31 and a grand final in September 8.

They will be followed by the newly named Blowes Clothing (formerly Blowes Menswear) Cup on April 14, with a decider on September 15.

The Northern ANFD Cup begins on April 21 and has a grand final on September 22.

“We’ve staggered the starts because we don’t have enough referees to run multiple grand final series on the same day,” Veenstra said.

The CEO wasn’t willing to speculate as to which clubs would be competitive this year but did say Trangie had recruited well in the off-season.