The Mid West Cup will remain at eight teams, after Lithgow Shamrocks' proposal to be included in Group 10's second division competition was rejected.
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Shamrocks were founded in 1966 and had won three Group 10 premierships in the 1980s, before disbanding in 2000.
The team had been reformed in late 2019, with a committee, first team coaches and sponsorship all locked in, but Mid West Cup president Dallas Booth said Shamrocks would not be participating in the competition in 2020.
"At this stage, no, that's my understanding," he said.
"It was Group 10's decision and they're basically making a draw for eight teams."
Booth had told the Western Advocate in December that Shamrocks "had a couple of issues" with their team but that would "get resolved one way or the other".
"Some of the reasons that were given to them was the amount of people in Lithgow, the availability of the field, the sustainability," he said.
"I know Shamrocks were coming up with options to fulfill all those targets, but how they've gone is between them and Group 10."
Shamrocks won the Group 10 premiership in 1982, 1984 and 1985, while finishing grand final runners-up in 1981 and 1983.
The club also remains the only Group 10 team to pick up four consecutive minor premierships from 1981 to 1984.
As well, Booth said that the Mid West Cup draw was in the works this week, with an announcement of the make-up of the season expected in the next coming weeks.
He did confirm that the competition will most likely have a top four finals series, unlike the Group 10 top five.
"Top four finals makes it shorter, one less week compared to Group 10," he said.
"Top five get's an extra week of semis, which makes it harder for Group 10 to fit around the main competition.
"A lot of the time, they'd like our semi-finals and grand finals finished before Group 10 starts there semi-finals, for ground availability and stuff like that."
Mid West Cup will feature Blackheath, CSU, Kandos, Lithgow Bears, Oberon, Orange Barbarians, Orange United and Portland in 2020.
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