The competition will kick off on April 30, but instead of the nine teams expected to take part in the 12 round competition, it will feature just seven after it was announced that the Coolah Roos and Trangie Tigers did not have the numbers to field sides in 2022.

Central West Rugby CEO Matt Tink said it was disappointing, but that there was "nobody to blame."

"The doomsdayers will paint this as a rugby issue, but talking to the other sports, this is a bit of a society issue where fewer people are committing to weekend sport," he said.

"Both clubs communicated that they really didn't have anyone new come into town. They had a few blokes leave town and they're basically getting an older playing list. They simply didn't have enough players who would commit to the 12 round competition."

This has meant that the draw, which was released back in January, has had to be redone.

What this means for Saturday's openers is that defending premiers Blayney will start the season with a bye, instead of their scheduled away trip to Trangie, while Molong will take on Yeoval away, instead of hosting Coolah.

As a result of the departures, a mid-season meeting between all the Oilsplus clubs has been called.

"At the board level, we have discussed getting everybody together just over halfway through the year, to discuss all the issues we have around this," Tink added,

"We will look at things such as competition structures, playing times, length of season, competition offerings and get some feedback from players and clubs because we'd like to get ahead of the bell curve.

"Hoping is not a strategy. We're very keen to consult with all stakeholders before the end of the season for the best way forward for our game in the zone."

Not all hope is lost for Coolah and Trangie however, as they have organised to play a home and away series between each other during the season.

"They are committed to trying to come back next season and Central West is committed to assisting them to do so as well," Tink said.

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