Bush footy on the box ... it seems a long time coming, doesn't it?
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The NSWRL announced last week over 100 games - largely in the junior and senior representative space - will be broadcast on its Facebook page throughout season 2021, with a sprinkling of Group games to earn some airtime as well.
It's a huge coup for clubs across Country Rugby League areas.
To be able to showcase the best games each Group has to offer to a wider audience is a rare opportunity, but given the technology now readily available it's probably one that should have been afforded a number of years ago.
Better late than never.
"The NSWRL has always been committed to our fans and NSWRL TV represents an opportunity for us to showcase our competitions from Manly to Mudgee," NSWRL Chief Commercial Officer Jodie Cross said.
"This is a significant investment by the NSWRL and I'm looking forward to all the opportunities it will provide this season and the future for keeping our stakeholders connected."
Initially, this column thought the idea was fraught with danger - why, after COVID-19, are we encouraging people to stay at home and watch the footy when rugby league clubs across NSW are desperately needing the support of the public on game day?
But the likelihood of Group 10 games, for example, being beamed across social media feeds on a weekly basis is probably far fetched.
Along with the like of the Harold Matthews Cup, Andrew Johns Cup, SG Ball Cup, Harvey Norman Tarsha Gale Cup, Laurie Daley Cup, Harvey Norman NSW Women's Premiership and NSW Cup games already penciled in, we're probably only likely to see less than a handful, at most, given the green light out of Group 10.
This is a significant investment by the NSWRL.
- Chief Commercial Officer Jodie Cross
Plus, after NSWRL's trial last season, one of the better viewed games was in fact a Group clash.
An impressive 85,000 viewers tuned in for the Group 9 preliminary final between the Tumut Blues and Young Cherrypickers, up on the 45,000 views average for the Presidents Cup, which shows there's a clear appetite for genuine country footy beyond the towns and people that so passionately bring these games to life.
It's a fair few more eyes than the 2000 to 2500 you can expect at some of the bush's best games, that's for sure.
So which games on the 2021 Group 10 schedule deserve that extra attention?
The 2021 Group 10 draw was finalised at the end of last year and, given the pandemic forced the board to abandon the entire senior season all together, round one, on Anzac Day weekend, no less, can't come quick enough.
Given that, the season-opening blockbuster between St Pat's and Panthers, the two-time defending Group 10 premiers, is sure to spark plenty of interest.
Few genuine derbies anywhere in bush footy are played out at the sort of ferocity these two old foes muster twice a year - and given Doug Hewitt's side is, of course, looking to become the first side to go back-to-back-to-back since Oberon in the early 1970s and Zac Merritt's Saints are desperately trying to reinvent themselves as a premiership hopeful there's plenty on the line early in 2021 for both of these clubs.
CYMS and Hawks meet for the first time in round three, with Daniel Mortimer handed two rounds to work into his tenure as a Group 10 premier league coach before tackling the hardest assignment he'll face in green and gold - taking down Willie Heta's two blues.
Honestly, it doesn't matter where these sides are on the ladder. Or, for that matter, who is in either side. CYMS and Hawks always turn it on, and Heta has seemingly made it his mission since landing in Orange to dominate Orange derbies.
His duels with legendary CYMS coach Mick Sullivan were must-see, and his match-up with Mortimer will be just as spicy.
We skip a little bit ahead to round six and venture back to Bathurst for what shapes up as a game that deserves as many eye balls on it as possible, if the end of 2019 is anything to go by.
Panthers host Mudgee at Carrington Park in a rematch of the last Group 10 grand final, won 9-8 in extra time by Hewitt's boys, sparking incredible scenes.
Since that game, the Dragons threatened a move to Group 11, which was ultimately denied, before president Sebastian Flack declared on radio in December that Mudgee is "expecting to take out the comp in the top grade" in 2021.
Hewitt's reply? "We've already started laughing about that".
Honestly, can these two clubs play each other every week? Aside from boasting some of the best players in the bush, this rivalry continues to build to the point you can nearly class it as fierce as the old Mudgee-Lithgow days, when Kip and co lead Workies into some great battles at Jubilee Oval.
We've already started laughing about that.
- Doug Hewitt on Mudgee's 'we're expecting to take out the comp in the top grade' comment.
Not convinced? Here's Hewitt again ... "our boys will be ready to give it back to them".
On top of those, there's a handful of others worth a look - Workies and Cowra in the final round could be one of those games that decides the last spot in the top five - but across the whole of Western, there's really games each weekend that deserve NSWRL's attention.
Molong versus Manildra in the Woodbridge Cup was one of the best attended Cup games in the competition's recent history, while the annual June long weekend clash between old rivals Forbes and Parkes and Pioneer Oval is, easily, the best regular season game of country rugby league anywhere in the bush.
Thousands flock to that game in Parkes, and just as many pack out the Rec in Molong - and, for this column, that has to be the key when looking at which games are streamed.
Taking people away from grounds is not the idea. Giving clashes that already command plenty of attention an even broader audience should be the goal.
Surely any extra attention all of our proud clubs can get is worth it.
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