Newcastle and Maitland merge to create mega zone Hunter Junior Rugby League Association
Two regions in the Hunter are amalgamating to form a mega association that will become the second largest junior rugby league association in the state in a major boost to the sport.
Newcastle
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Two regions in the Hunter are amalgamating to form a mega association that will become the second largest junior rugby league association in the state in a major boost to the sport.
Second in size only to Penrith, Newcastle will merge with Maitland to form the new mega association.
The Newcastle Junior Rugby League Association (JRLA) and the Maitland and District JRLA voted unanimously this week to form the Hunter Junior Rugby League Association (JRLA) for next year, which will look after more than 6,500 participants.
It will comprise of 32 clubs from both associations, ranging from Under 6s to Under 18s competitions, with senior comps to remain the same.
“We’ve worked in conjunction with Maitland association quite well for the last few years, so it was a natural progression for the merger to happen,” Newcastle JRLA secretary Jody Watsford said.
“With the combined entity and the number of players we’ll have, it will give us a voice at the table with NSWRL.”
The merger is expected to have a big impact on acquiring funding, resources and sponsorship for junior rugby league in both regions, and provide a superior competition structure.
“Having a unified approach across regions, participants are playing under same structures,” NSWRL northern zone manager Dean Bosnich said.
“Administration wise in Newcastle and Maitland it’s a stand alone region and by separating Central Coast out of it means junior associations here can unify across the region, line up with the NSWRL region.
“Amalgamating is attractive for sponsorship for clubs and for the leagues and also gives them a bit more pull to demand resources to the area and the region having such a big participation rates.”
The move comes after NSWRL created six new zones across the state in 2020 to streamline governance and administration in a bid to improve participation rates, competition opportunities, consistency of local rules and competition structures, and lower costs for parents.
While the merger will change some things, NSWRL assures the identity of Newcastle and Maitland clubs won’t be lost.
“They still reside in voting colleges, those groups will always elect their board members to sit on the regional board, always be two from each and three independent on the board, always directly tied to the regions and the clubs vote for their people to sit on the board,” Mr Bosnich said.
“The connection will still be local. There will be minimal change to what they see, especially in younger age groups.”
It does however move the boundary of the zone, which could benefit parents and their kids having to travel longer distances.
“With 13s and up they play a combined competition now but with little kids 6s to 12s there’s an opportunity to pool the kids a bit better,” Mr Watsford said.
“There’s opportunities to reduce the travel for parents.
“We have teams in Port Stephens and Raymond Terrace so opportunities for them to play some Maitland teams.”
And the move has also been backed by the Newcastle Knights as it creates a clearer alignment between local competitions and elite pathways.
“The amalgamation is more about unifying the region strategically to be able to move forward in one direction and will match the NSWRL region and also the Knights pathway region, everything will be connected,” Mr Bosnich added.
While the senior teams will stay as is, there is a chance to streamline them in the future, although with a semi-professional competition in Newcastle, there’ll be a lot more “tweaking” needed before that can be done.
“This is a first step as a region to eventually getting everything under one association moving forward,” Mr Bosnich said.
All life members of each associations will become life members of the Hunter JRLA, and initial members will be made up from current committee members to ensure a smooth transition.
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