Group 10 has denied entry to both the Cargo Heelers and last year's Premier League players into the upcoming Wallerawang Landscaping Cup competition, suggesting their presence in the second-division tournament could be 'more detrimental than beneficial'.
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When asked to address the decision to cut Cargo from the competition, chairman Linore Zamparini said the board had an issue with the 'one and done' nature of their proposed tenure in the Mid-west season.
"They're not part of our competition," Zamparini said.
"The thought that they're only going to come in for one year... that could be detrimental.
"I can understand that they [Cargo] would be upset at the ruling but the Wallerawang Landscaping Cup is better off without them."
The plan for Cargo was to have a run in the Mid-west cup for the upcoming season then head back to the Woodbridge Cup in 2021, a scenario that didn't sit well with the boss.
"What happens if they won the competition this season? No one would get a crack at them next year," he said.
"The product is here and it needs to stay in our region."
Perhaps a hotter topic than Cargo's potential admission into the competition was the attempt by some clubs to register Premier League players from last year's Group 10 competition, a push that was quickly outlawed during Wednesday night's meeting.
"Clubs didn't want to be stacked with Group 10 players... if you played three or more first grade games last year, you can't play," he said.
"The decision that we've come up with is what we've got in our constitution and it's what the majority of the clubs in Mid-west agreed to."
What does this mean for the remaining six Wallerawang Landscaping Cup sides? Well... it's hard to tell.
Competition president Dallas Booth expressed concerns over clubs' lack of players last week, suggesting a sensible mix of Group 10 locals would be beneficial but now, sides will need to pick from the crop of players that were already registered prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, unless they haven't played first grade footy in the last 12 months.
This means that Jackson Brien's sought-after signature won't be inked at Oberon in 2020 but the Tigers' will be allowed to field a host of Premier League players from last season who (fairly) made the decision to play under Booth at the beginning of the year.
"Anyone who signed pre-COVID will be right to play... that's the only exception," he said.
From a personal standpoint, Zamparini couldn't overstate the importance of a second-division competition to the Central West and says there are some players who just want to get out and have a run and shouldn't have to collide with representative players while doing so.
"There's guys that don't want to train two-three times a week and they don't really care about winning," he said.
"They just want to play footy with their mates and have a beer afterwards."
With the withdrawal of the Raiders and the removal of the Heelers, only six teams remain in the controversial Wallerawang Landscaping Cup competition but Zamparini says the draw, and the season, should be manageable from here on in.
"The draw won't come as a big issue. There's six teams now... that makes it easier,"
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