Trangie wrapped up the premiership with a 24-7 victory over the Magpies, and Hobbs believes had his side made the most of its opportunities the 2016 grand final could well have been a very different story.

Played at the Tigers’ home ground of Alan Burns Oval, the visitors enjoyed the better of the running in the first half but still trailed Trangie 7-0 at the break.

And if you ask Hobbs, that’s what killed his side’s shot at glory.

“We had a lot of opportunities to score in that first half and we just didn’t take them,” Hobbs said.

“It was then the other way around in the second half, and Trangie took their chances.

“That was the difference really. We just had a couple of dropped passes when we should have scored.”

Molong’s only try came mid-way through the second half, with Michael Thompson diving over to open the scoring for the Magpies.

Will Oldham landed the conversion, but it was all academic.

Trangie eventually secured the 2016 title, wrapping up the 17-point win on home soil.

Hobbs knew the minor premiership-winning Tigers were going to be tough, having not beaten Trangie during the 2016 season.

“Their forwards were really strong,” Hobbs said, adding lock Josh Peffer was a stand-out for the Magpies.

“It was great to get to another grand final and the guys worked really hard to get there. It would have been great for them to be able to win it.”

This season was the first the GrainCorp Cup – Central West Rugby Union’s second division competition – trialed a conference system splitting the 15 teams in the premiership up into three pools.

With the goal being less travel during the opening rounds of the season, Hobbs said his club enjoyed playing regular rugby against the likes of Blayney, CSU Orange, Canowindra and Yeoval in the middle third of the program.

When the competition formed into two groups playing off for the north and south titles, Hobbs said the Molong club, 2014 south premiers, enjoyed heading in a different direction in 2016.

“I think it was good. We enjoyed playing those closer teams and we didn't have a problem going north after that,” he said.

“We’d be happy to be part of the same competition again next year.”