And so it begins.
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This year's resurrection of The People's Choice Central West Rugby Union Team Of The Year begins with the front-rowers, the bookends, the big-boppers, all of whom will happily argue they're the most important players on the field.
They've got a fair point too, very rarely is a side successful without a strong front-row that controls the set-piece, certainly in the Blowes Clothing Cup at the very least.
The Central Western Daily's experts have trawled through 2019 to pick their eight best props of the season across all of Central West's senior competitions, but only two can be named in the final team.
Have your say by voting for any two of these nominees, or adding your own.
1 AARON BOOBY (Bathurst Bulldogs)
He's been among the Blowes Clothing Cup's best bookends for a couple of years now and is the picture of consistency in the front row.
With the likes of Joel Harper, Sean Fogarty and Matt Trapp all vying for spots in Bathurst's front row the one constant was Booby and for good reason, his spot was never in doubt and he went to another level come the finals as Bulldogs rolled to the title.
2 CHARLIE TUCK (Narromine Gorillas)
A veteran, but showed no signs of slowing down in 2019.
Far and away the best prop in Narromine's run to the grand final and arguably the best in the New Holland Agriculture Cup too, the Gorillas' dominance at the set-piece throughout the season started with Tuck.
3 KRYSTAL FYFE (West Wyalong Redbacks)
Lines up in the front row, but the way she plays is more akin to that of a back-rower, which gave her West Wyalong side and Central West a massive advantage in terms of mobility throughout 2019.
Strong at the set-piece as any good prop is, the Redbacks built around her influence at scrum time and she was arguably the best bookend in Central West Rugby Union's women's competition.
4 CHARLIE FRENCH (Forbes Platypi)
Needs no introduction and needs to explanation really, based on the last couple of seasons French is the premier prop in the Central West and proved as much again this year.
Led Forbes' pack with typical ferociousness and was the bedrock for a powerful Central West Blue Bulls' scrum which went a long way to securing the Caldwell Cup, and earned another NSW Country Cockatoos gig for his efforts.
5 JOE DAKUITOGA (Cowra Eagles)
The bedrock for Cowra's strong set-piece this season and as a late call-up, a huge reason Central West claimed the Caldwell Cup at Tamworth's NSW Country Rugby Union Championship.
Deservedly earned a spot in the initial Cockatoos squad and the Eagles seriously missed his influence in their preliminary final loss to Emus, despite that, he's an obvious nominee here.
6 DARCY GARLICK (Molong Magpies)
Molong's biggest issue last year was the set-piece, and they battled with a scrum that went backwards more often than not in 2018, largely due to flankers being forced into the tight five.
Not this year.
The Magpies built a far more stable scrum around Garlick at loosehead and while the former Orange City Lion had injury issues he was a huge reason Molong's pack was able to form an outstanding foundation for their outside men.
7 AMIE FAZEKAS (Temora Tuskers)
As strong on the carry as you'll find anywhere on the Central West, a wrecking ball really.
She was a huge reason the Blue Bulls were so successful at the country championships and was nigh on unstoppable every time she touched the ball in Tuskers colours.
She was a focal point in Temora's run to the Westfund Ferguson Cup finals and was the side's best through their post-season campaign.
8 MICHAEL GRAHAM (Orange Emus)
Despite having bumper front-row stocks as usual Emus were forced to chop and change a little bit throughout the year due to injury and unavailability, and despite battling rib issues himself Graham was the greens' most consistent and regular performer.
Typically forceful with ball in hand and strong at the set-piece, he was as good a tighthead as you'd find in the top tier.
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