Junior rugby league governing body enters liquidation
Junior rugby league in the Macarthur region has been thrown into disarray after the governing body went into liquidation.
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Junior rugby league in the Macarthur region has been thrown into disarray after its local governing body went into liquidation.
In a statement on its website, NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) said it had been advised that Western Suburbs District Junior Rugby League (WSDJRL) had entered liquidation.
NSWRL will hold a meeting with all junior rugby league clubs and life members at Wests Leagues Club next Thursday at 7pm.
NSWRL chief executive David Trodden told the Macarthur Chronicle all junior competitions would still go ahead in the 2019 season.
Mr Trodden said the WSDJRL had approached the state body prior to Christmas with funding concerns and NSWRL had offered to employ an administrator to oversee the competition.
Mr Trodden said despite the WSDJRL entering into liquidation, NSWRL would still appoint an administrator and was ready to enter into an employment process.
“The Macarthur region is strategically important for our game and important to us,” he said.
“The competition will play, I would think, in exactly the same way (as in previous years) but it will have significantly better administrative support.
“Of course it’s not an ideal situation but what we’re focused on is making sure there is no impact on supporters and those who play the game in the Macarthur region.
“We’re confident we have the support of our stakeholders to ensure the competition continues.”
Mr Trodden said a decline in junior numbers across the region had been reversed last season and he was confident rugby league had a bright future in the area.
“The decline has been arrested — last year was the first time there has been an increase in participants in five years across the Sydney Metro area and many of those numbers were in the western suburbs district,” he said.
Mr Trodden said low registration fees compared to other sports and the $100 active kids voucher from the government had contributed to increased numbers.
Wests Group Macarthur CEO Tony Mathew said this morning the organisation, a major sponsor of junior rugby league in the region, would continue to support the sport.
“Our commitment to rugby league and junior league will go on for a long period of time,” he said.
Mathew said going forward the NSWRL, Western Suburbs Magpies and Wests Tigers had plans to improve the grassroots of the sport in the region.
“There will be a great alignment in the pathways for juniors from representative footy to the NRL,” he said.
In 2017, the under-13s to -17s Wests competitions merged with the Canterbury-Bankstown District Junior Rugby Football League in response to an audit from NSWRL which found the competitions couldn’t survive on their own.
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