After the withdrawal of Cowra and Blayney, this year's competition will feature six clubs as Doug Hewitt's Bathurst Panthers will look to secure their third championship in-a-row.

But, they won't have an easy road to the top.

Daniel Mortimer has his CYMS army raring to go, while the likes of Jack Littlejohn and Willie Heta are fine-tuning their sides at Dragons and Hawks respectively.

Zac Merritt's St Pat's certainly have the talent to compete with the top sides, but can they be consistent enough week-to-week?

The leaves the unknown Lithgow Workies who will carry the underdog tag all season... but could that work in their favour?

Before we dive into the official season preview, let's take a look at the Central Western Daily's player tier pyramid ahead of the 2021 season.

SQUAD: Daniel Mortimer, Lachlan Munro, Joe Duffy, Cam Jones, Joseph Ualesi, Jack Buchanan, Robbie Mortimer, Ethan Bereyne, Adam Stanford, Matt Clark, Hayden Spencer, Josh Board, Jack Nobes, Addison Williams, Nick Law, Joe Lasagavibau, Liam Kennedy, Dom Maley, Mitch Britt, Jordan Clarke, Tom Satterthwaite.

COACH: Daniel Mortimer

CLUB SAYS: Any time a player with the resume of Daniel Mortimer takes on the coaching role at a bush footy club, the expectations will be sky high.

The 31-year-old has put together a fine squad at Norton Park, jagging a couple of key men from Cowra in Jack Nobes and Jack Buchanan.

In 2020, the green and golds took out the Bathurst knockout and were again competitive again this pre-season.

But even though Mortimer's been at CYMS for well over a year, he's still yet to play a regular season game.

Due to this, he's not expecting the world from his side straight away as it's still implementing a new structure.

"We have to be playing our best footy at the end of the year," Mortimer said.

"I'm going to be more concerned with how we're playing to start things off, not so much if we're winning and losing.

"I'd prefer a loss when I'm happy with how we're playing over an ordinary win."

The training sessions have been good so far, but that's not always a strong indicator of success.

"It's hard to read too much into it," he said.

"I've been in sides that have the best pre-season ever, then don't perform. It's hard to say whether we'll do good or bad."

As for the his long-term goals this winter? It's a premiership or a bust.

"Our goal is to win the comp... anything less is a failure," he said.

PLAYER TO WATCH: Mortimer has marked big man Joseph Ualesi as a player to look out for.

"He'll be the leader of the pack alongside Jack Buchanan," he said.

"I'll be looking at him to step up and I'll be watching him closely."

2019: Sixth.

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: Second.

This competition looks as unpredictable as they come. Any side from Panthers down to St Pat's have the potential to finish inside the top two, but based on Daniel Mortimer's leadership, as well as what looks to be an excellent side on paper, we'll side with the green and golds to claim second.

The query over this side is who will slot into the five-eighth position alongside the former NRL star.

Mitchell Britt is dubbed to open the season at pivot, but will need to lift his game several levels after spending the last five seasons in the Mid-west Cup ... we feel he's certainly capable of doing this.

Jack Buchanan adds a lot of starch to the forward pack as he joins the likes of Liam Kennedy, Ethan Bereyne, Joseph Ualesi, and Cam Jones.

Throw in a returning Tom Satterthwaite, and you've got a roster capable of doing damage.

SQUAD: Ryan Manning, Duncan Young, Talon Hodge, Marcel Ikinofo, Jordan Baker, Will Heta, Toby Westcott, Sam Coyte, Alex Prout, Soulala Houma, Ethan McKellar, Rakai Tuheke, Nathan Potts, Glen Maxwell, Marlin Pollack, Kyle Burns.

COACH: Willie Heta.

CLUB SAYS: Two blues' backrower Ethan McKellar is known for his gas tank, so it's no surprise to hear the big man speak about the importance of endurance this pre-season.

"That's been our mail goal at training," McKellar said.

"We want to be as fit as possible. The physicality at training as really enhanced on previous years as well.

"We're just to do more game simulations at training to prepare ourselves for the match. We don't want to be going half-assed at training."

The pre-season intensity undoubtedly picked up after a disappointing trial game against South Sydney Bulls, an outing that McKellar wasn't happy with.

"It was very, very average to be honest... it wasn't our day," he said.

Looking towards the regular season, McKellar's goals are much the same as Mortimer's... win the thing.

"Of course we want to win it ... that's the goal every year," he said.

"We don't get our heads beat around and feel sore at work for nothing."

PLAYER TO WATCH: Marlin Pollack is on McKellar's radar ahead of the season as the talented youngster is primed for a big season in the top grade.

"He's not only one of my best mates, but he's been training really hard and putting in the effort," he said.

"He's young and enthusiastic and he's got the potential to play first grade."

Pollack spent the majority of this junior career in the forwards but if he is to play in Willie Heta's side this winter, McKellar expects to see him in the backline.

"He's really good on his feet, and he's fast," he said.

"He might be a bit too light for the forwards at the moment. He'll be good out in the backs where he can handle himself."

2019: First (minor premiership).

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: Fourth.

It's so hard to pick a roster as talented as Hawks to finish in what would probably considered a disappointing spot, but the competition is just so stacked with heavyweights.

The two blues have the firepower to win a competition, and finally get the flashy fullback they've been looking for in Ryan Manning, but while they have made strides off the field, so have their adversaries.

Toby Westcott slots into the halves alongside Willie Heta and will go a long way to determining how sharp their attack is early on.

You can talk about the little blokes until the cows come home, but the Hawks' real strength lies in the forward pack.

To have Ethan McKellar, Rakai Tuheke and Nathan Potts all in the back row is bordering on unfair. Throw Soul a fit and firing Saul Houma into the mix, and you've got a terrifying forward pack.

It's not as if we expect Hawks to be bad, we're just counting on a couple of others sides to edge past them before the semis.

SQUAD: Greg Alderson, Ryan Jervis, Brock Egan, Harry Bender, Jack Sullivan, Eli Felton, Sam Lane, Cooper Egan.

COACH: Graeme Osborne.

CLUB SAYS: It's no secret that Graeme Osborne's Workies have drawn the underdog tag ahead of the 2021 title race and whispers of their pre-season struggles have echoed throughout the region.

And even though there's some truth to the headlines you've been seeing, Osborne says the media has amplified the issues more than necessary.

"The media had plenty of negative comments in the paper about us," Osborne said.

"There was never any contact made to the club and the stories and innuendos made in the paper was a really hard hurdle for us to get over."

Now that pre-season's over, Osborne's excited to lock horns with Hawks in their first contest and hopes the game is well support at Tony Luchetti Sportsground.

"It's the first game of Group 10 footy people have seen in a while," he said.

"Hopefully there's plenty of interest around. I don't think it's going to be an easy task to get people back to the footy fields.

"People had the last 12 months to do whatever they wanted without any commitment and I don't think we've seen the true impact of that yet.

"Clubs will be doing it tough for the first couple of weeks and I think it's going to be hard to get those volunteers back ... they're the backbone of these clubs."

Osborne has been trying to make his training sessions as heated possible as he wants to prepare his side for the season.

"We've been trying to implement as competitive aspect in our sessions," he said.

"We just want to control what we can control this season and not pay attention to anything else."

PLAYER TO WATCH: Osborne didn't single out any players from his side, but touched on the importance of the under 18s squad that's sure to provide plenty of first graders in the future.

"We should be focusing on the players we've got coming through," he said.

"Our under 18s side has a few players coming through and those kids are the future.

"Players like Sam Lane and Cooper Egan might get the call-up to first grade at some stage during the year. They're both capable of playing it."

2019: Fourth.

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: Sixth.

It's hard to see this group winning a game let alone getting off the bottom of the ladder.

We know that's a harsh thing to say, and their lack of success won't come because they aren't trying or don't have the passion, but the cattle simply isn't there.

After a stout season in 2019, Workies lost a stack of their players to both Panthers and Portland (who will return to play in the Mid West Cup), and there's just not enough manpower left over to make a dent on such a strong competition.

Greg Alderson shapes as a key man for the Wolves, and it would be nice to see Sam Lane and Cooper Egan work their way up to the top grade, but in the end, it won't lead to a finals berth.

SQUAD: 1 Lee McClintock, 2 Jacob Ciccioppo, 3 Tys Rewiti , 4 Jackson Brien, 5 Tye Siakisoni, 6 Haze Rewiti, 7 Tyler Colley, 8 Luke Single, 9 Mitch Squire, 10 Zac Merritt, 11 Mitch Browne, 12 Cooper Ackroyd, 13 Aaron Mawhinny, 14 Jackson Vallis, 15 Jordo Boney, 16 Jack Mackey, 17 Nick Booth

COACH: Zac Merritt

CLUB SAYS: No side every dedicates 100 per cent of their training regime to one facet of play, but Bathurst St Pat's captain-coach Zac Merrit says defence has taken up a tonne of time at Jack Arrow Oval lately.

"Our defence hasn't been up to scratch over the last few years so we've worked really hard on that," Merritt said.

"We want to be able to stay in the game and give ourselves an opportunity to win every week."

Merritt hopes his new-look defence, combined with a well-rounded style of play, will be enough to give the boys a good crack at the finals series.

"Looking at how hard we've trained all pre-season, there's no reason why we can't finish in the top three... that's what I'm aiming for.

"We'd love to have a second chance in the semis."

Pat's have already put good performances on the board as they collected a win at Forbes not long ago, as well as a solid day at Bathurst's pre-season knockout.

PLAYER TO WATCH: It's no surprise that Merritt threw Jackson Brien's name into this pile as the Western Rams gun is sure to make a massive impact this season.

The former Oberon Tiger made a mess of Forbes' defensive line not long ago and Merritt was in awe.

"Forbes started to come back on us for a little while and then he [Brien] turned into the Hulk for a little while there," he laughed.

2019: Eighth.

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: Fifth.

Zac Merritt's men appear to be slightly out of touch with the top four sides, but certainly have the talent to finish close to them.

Jackson Brien in the centres is damaging enough to win games on his own, and Lee McClintock has Josh Addo-Carr speed at fullback.

The issue at Pat's lies with culture. They haven't been genuine heavyweights for several seasons now, and it's going to be tough for them to propel themselves into that category with the likes of Panthers and CYMS running around.

SQUAD: Josh Rivett, Desi Doolan, Jeremy Gordon, Keelan Bresac, Malik Blenman, Willie Wright, Doug Hewitt, Brent Seager, Nick Loader, Dave Sellers, Abel Lefaoseu, Blake Seager, Jake Betts, Jedd Betts, Joey Bugg, Claude Gordon

COACH: Doug Hewitt

CLUB SAYS: Any club that's riding the wave of back-to-back first grade premierships is going to approach the next season looking to do the same thing.

Despite losing Blake Lawson (ACL) and Jack Siejka (concreting), the men in black have one goal and one goal only... lift the trophy.

"We're going out to win everything but we're under no illusions as to how hard it's going to be," lock Jake Betts said.

"At training we've just spoken about forgetting the last two seasons. Anything can happen, especially in the finals.

"Everyone's motivated and raring to go, especially with the talks of this merger next season, we definitely want to take it out."

Betts knows his men will have a target on their back this winter, and he's looking at the likes of CYMS and Mudgee as potential heavyweights.

"Daniel Mortimer's there and CYMS and with Tom Satterthwaite is back ... he's a gun," he said.

"Mudgee will definitely be up there as well but Hawks have always been good but just missed out."

"We play St Pat's this weekend, though... that's our focus."

Those derbies are always tough but Betts knows if Panthers can get a few things right, she'll be apples.

"We want to keep it pretty simple. Fitness and completions are important for us," he said.

"It's probably going to take three or four rounds before we get right into our rhythm."

PLAYER TO WATCH: Blake Lawson is a huge loss for Panthers, but Betts is touting his replacement as a potential break out star this year.

Keelan Breesac will play at Carrington Park this season after making the move from Lithgow and was on fire during the Bathurst knockout.

"We played a match against Wellington and he had spiders on him," Betts said.

2019: First.

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: First.

Surprise, surprise... we're taking Panthers to win another Group 10 title.

It's far from a gutsy pick, but it seems like the logical one.

Doug Hewitt returns to the fold and still has a plethora of top-flight talent around him.

Brent Seager might just be the best pound-for-pound player in the competition, and Keelan Bresac has reportedly been lighting it up at training, acting as a needed replacement for the injured Blake Lawson.

Jack Siejka departing from the back row is a query as the 27-year-old has been a staple at Carrington Park for many years.

But, the addition of Dave Sellers and Abel Lefaose looks to fill that void.

Who will stop them?

SQUAD: Nathan Orr, Jared Robinson, Jake Durant, Corin Smith, Lachie Hill, Jack Littlejohn, Harry Siejka, David West, Toby Forrest, Pacey Stockton, Clay Priest, Casey Burgess, Billy Carberry, Jack Beasley, Chad Chandler, Dimitrius Ainuu, Hamish Bryant, Sebastian Flack, Jayden Brown, George Murrin.

COACH: Jack Littlejohn

CLUB SAYS: Fitness, fitness and more fitness.

That's been the Modus Operandi at Glen Willow so far as Jack Littlejohn has been putting the Red V through its paces.

"He's been flogging us most of the pre-season," Five-eighth Harry Siejka said.

"Mick Reynolds is one of the old boys who's come back and he's had a bit to do with the fitness as well."

For Siejka, he thinks the side that will run out in 2021 is arguably the best in the competition, although he doesn't expect many to agree with that assessment.

"I think we're underestimated, Siejka said.

"It's a small town and we don't have the biggest players but we've always been competitive and I think we'll be knocking on the door again this year.

"We've got a better all-around squad than we've had before and there's more depth.

"A lot of our boys like the underdog tag... we'll try to prove a few blokes wrong this season."

PLAYER TO WATCH: Three years ago, Billy Carberry was one of the state's most promising rugby stars. But, after spending a few seasons in the Brumbies system, the youngster has returned to Mudgee and according to Siejka, has been training the house down.

"He's just a footballer," Siejka said.

"He's got a lot of energy and he runs really hard... he bring a lot to our squad.

"He's going to be able to fill a hole anywhere and would have got a Western jersey if he decided to play last year."

2019: Third.

2021 PREDICTED FINISH: Third.

We're expecting more of the same from the Dragons.

Jack Littlejohn will lead the Red V into battle this season and has a few sneaky additions bolstering his side.

It's been five years between drinks for Mudgee as they last won a top-flight premiership in a Monsoon at Wade Park, and with the bulk of their big guns from 2019 coming back, why won't they be thereabouts again?

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