GROUP 19 has taken the first step towards a possible merger with Group 4 following a paper being presented and voted on at a meeting last Wednesday night.
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While nothing is official, the two groups have agreed to meet for further discussions.
Group 19 president Mick Lewis tabled the paper in the hope both groups could be strengthened and smaller clubs given a life line.
“At the moment it is only a loose discussion about what might happen with boundaries,” Lewis said.
“We have six big clubs and so do Group 4. It is no surprise the clubs battling the hardest are the smaller towns.”
The idea at the moment would be for the two Moree sides, Armidale, Inverell, Glen Innes and Goondiwindi to join the six Group 4 sides, and Group 19 adopt a second division similar to Group 4 for the smaller clubs.
Lewis believes a merger may breathe fresh life into dormant clubs like Bingara, Warialda, Guyra and a couple more.
“It is important to give those clubs a way back to life,” Lewis said.
“We have put it on the table and voted to further investigate it.
“We have contacted Group 4 and they have agreed to discuss it.”
Group 4 president, Barry Pratten, has agreed to further discussions, but stressed nothing was official.
“The idea has been around for 15 years and been mooted several times,” Pratten said.
“We tabled it 10 years ago but it got knocked on the head.
“It might have more legs now that Group 19 is more sparse.
“We have not discussed it as a group yet.”
The date of the meeting is yet to be announced.
