crushermoran
Stan Wickham (3)
One club (because of their own shortcomings) has been allowed to play their 1st XV against every other clubs 2nd XV (which flows on to the 3rd and 4th Grade competitions). Of course this is going to cause issues, particularly when clubs who have "done the right thing" are the ones who lose out to the club who needed additional support at the start of the year. Let's not forget this decision was made the week before the competition was started and Subbies were left with no real alternative because they were informed of Epping's issues too late.
There is merit to both sides of the argument but in any event I don't think Epping will be in Division 2 next year even if they take home two premierships.
To be fair to Epping, in 2023 they were meant to be in Division 3 and only moved up to Division 2 a week before the season when all the clubs in Division 2 were complaining about being in a 6 team comp. Subbies sent an SOS and Epping agreed to do a favour to the competition.
Move forward a year and Epping applied to be in Division 3 or 4. This was far earlier than a week before (I know this as I was with Knox committee members when they were asked to replace them 3-4 weeks before round 1). Subbies approached every Div 3 or 4 club about moving up and not one of them accepted including Sydney Irish, Knox, Hawkesbury Valley and Merrylands, who would all have been a better fit. As a result, Epping were forced to remain in the division and this was the option presented. At the time, my understanding is most clubs were happy with the arrangement, particularly as it allowed another colts side (Hunters Hill) to field a team in the competition.
Epping will be moved out next year and rightfully so, but the carry on is very short sighted.