Wyong Roos to enter three teams in Newcastle Rugby League grades in 2024

Following widespread changes to the under-19s competition, one Central Coast club is set to further expand its presence in the Newcastle Rugby League next season.

Wyong is set to considerably expand its presence in the Newcastle Rugby League next season, with the club outlining plans to enter teams in all three of the region’s senior grades.

Having played in the Denton Engineering Cup – Newcastle’s premier first grade competition – since 2020, the Roos were invited, along with The Entrance, to enter teams into Newcastle’s top-tier under-19s competition next year as part of sweeping changes to the youth grade announced in July.

And with applications for the upcoming season to be announced shortly, Wyong has outlined plans to also compete in the Newcastle reserve grade competition, which would take its amount of teams playing in the division from one to three.

“Entry applications haven’t been called for yet, but we will certainly be putting an application in once they call for those,” said Stephen Marks, the club’s football operations manager, of the plans to play in the reserve grade competition.

“We expect our entry application will be accepted (by Newcastle Rugby League). The only issue will be if Central Coast Rugby League or NSWRL try and prevent us from doing that.”

Wyong plan to enter teams in all three Newcastle Rugby League senior grades next year. Picture: Sue Graham

If approved, the club will have a full complement of teams in the Hunter’s senior grades in 2024, creating a greater sense of draw alignment across the competition and also embedding the Roos more deeply into the Newcastle rugby league ecosystem.

“We have always tried to give as many players as possible a game of rugby league. At the same time you’ve got to balance your objectives against that,” said Marks.

The Roos will increase their presence in Newcastle. Picture: Sue Graham

“We want to compete in the best competition we can, and the Newcastle competition is by far the best third-tier competition in the state. That’s where we want to be, we want to win that competition but it’s tough and we’re going to look at pushing our resources towards that goal.”

While increasing its commitment to Newcastle’s competitions, Marks said that Wyong will still have a significant presence in the local Central Coast division.

“We’ll still look at fielding first grade, reserve grade and likely open age in the Central Coast competition, as well as the teams in Newcastle,” he said.

This means that the club could possibly have five open-age men’s grade teams across the two divisions, on top of any additional youth teams.

Cooper Bigeni in action for the Roos in 2023. Picture: Sue Graham

How the changes will affect the flow of players internally within the club is not yet known. While some of this year’s CCRL first grade squad will remain locally to play on the Central Coast, it is understood that the majority are likely to make the move to play in the Newcastle reserve grade competition.

“Many are looking to step up to reserve grade in Newcastle but many will also look to stay in first grade on the Central Coast,” said Marks.

While the club is confident of maintaining its senior grades in the Central Coast competition, Marks said the Roos’ decision to apply to enter a team into next year’s Newcastle under-19 competition means that it may not have the resources to also compete locally in the under-19 grade.

“We’d love to, but I’m not sure we’re going to have the numbers to do that.

“We are lucky and unlucky in the same breath that many of our under-19s and under-17s from 2023 have been picked up by NRL clubs, so we’re really not going to have a clear picture until about April as to whether we’ve got the number to field two teams. But I don’t think we’ll have the numbers for 2024.”

The Roos are unsure whether they will be able to field an under-19s teams in the local competition next year. Picture: Sue Graham

Wyong’s decision comes amid increased co-operation between Central Coast and Newcastle rugby league bodies in recent times, with the Central Coast youth grade set for its biggest shake-up in decades next year.

In July it was announced that while Wyong and The Entrance were invited to join Newcastle’s premier under-19s competition in 2024, the local under-19 competition would be combined with the Newcastle and Maitland under-18.5 grade to form a single competition across the Central Coast-Hunter region.

Citing a shortage of players coming through the junior age groups, officials said the plans to create this second-tier competition would “give all players at that age across the Hunter and Central Coast regions an opportunity to play the level that best suits them in competitions that are sustainable”.

While the decision has been praised in some corners for providing talented young footballers with an opportunity to play against stronger opposition in Newcastle, questions were raised about the effect the changes it will have on the local competition.

Concerns ranged from logistical queries associated with the extra travel, to the fear that Wyong and potentially The Entrance’s involvement in the Newcastle competition would further exacerbate the divide between larger and smaller clubs on the Central Coast.

Tigers officials said the club had not yet made a decision on whether it would enter a team in the Newcastle under-19s competition or remain in the revamped local grade next season.