2018 Group 10 Rugby League season

The 2018 Group 10 Rugby League season was the 72nd season of premier competition of rugby league in the Central West area of New South Wales. It was run under the auspices of the Country Rugby League. It was the sixth consecutive season to feature nine teams, after the re-admittance of the Blayney Bears in 2013.[1]

2018 Group 10 Rugby League
Teams9
Premiers Bathurst Panthers (3rd title)
Minor premiers Cowra Magpies
Matches played74
Points scored3830

Orange CYMS entered the season as defending champions, after defeating Oberon Tigers 23–22 in the 2017 premier league decider. CYMS rallied from 22–8 down with 20 minutes remaining to claim the one-point victory.[2] On the back of off-season recruits which included former South Sydney, Manly and Newcastle forward Josh Starling, Oberon Tigers were labelled the early premiership favourites.[3]

Premier League season summary

Eighteen rounds were contested from April until August, resulting in the top of Cowra Magpies, Orange Hawks, Orange CYMS, Bathurst Panthers and Oberon Tigers. Cowra Magpies won their first minor premiership since 1996.

St Pat's played its first home game at the new Jack Arrow Sporting Complex on April 22,[4] a 16–10 victory over Oberon Tigers.[5] St Pat's originally left its spiritual home of Jack Arrow Oval, at the now Paddy's Hotel, at the end of the 2012 season. The club had been playing its home games at the Bathurst Sports Ground, next door to city rivals Panthers at Carrington Park.

Round 10 was cancelled after snow closed roads to Oberon on June 17.[6] Roads between Oberon and Bathurst were closed on the day, meaning Cowra Magpies were unable to travel to Oberon for their match against the Tigers. Games could have been played in Mudgee, Orange and Bathurst but Group 10 officials were hesitant to find itself in a situation where some games could have been played and some couldn't. Rescheduled mid-week games were not possible, due to being a logistical nightmare. All matches were scrapped and one point was awarded each. Because Orange CYMS had bye that weekend, a decision was made to scrap bye points in the second half of the season, so Orange CYMS wouldn't receive an unfair advantage.

After 16 rounds, Orange Hawks looked likely to claim a first minor premiership since 2013 but after losing to Oberon Tigers 22–20 at Wade Park on August 5,[7] Cowra Magpies jumped into first place after a massive 58–14 win over Mudgee Dragons at Sid Kallas Oval on the same day.[8] Magpies won their final match of the home and away season, 34–16 against Lithgow Workies, to seal their first minor premiership since 1996.[9]

Cowra captain Josh Rainbow was named the Group 10 player of the year on August 31, becoming just the fourth Cowra player to do so, the most recent Magpies player Dean Corrigan winning in 2009.[10] Rainbow earned 17 votes, to finish ahead of Orange Hawks captain-coach Willie Heta with 14 and 2016 winner Jeremy Gordon with 11, Rainbow's fellow teammate who won the award with Bathurst Panthers.[11]

Teams

Club Home ground Coach Captain President
Bathurst Panthers Carrington Park Doug Hewitt Doug Hewitt Dennis Comerford
Bathurst St Patrick's Jack Arrow Sporting Complex Greg Behan Greg Behan David Chapman
Blayney Bears King George Oval Tim Mortimer Tim Mortimer
Cowra Magpies Sid Kallis Oval Steve Sutton Josh Rainbow Marc McLeish
Lithgow Workmen's Club Tony Luchetti Showground Graeme Osborne Corey Osborne
Mudgee Dragons Glen Willow Ben Gregory Jared Robinson
Oberon Tigers Oberon Sports Ground Luke Braninghan Luke Braninghan Ian Christie-Johnston
Orange CYMS Wade Park Mick Sullivan Mick Sullivan
Orange Hawks Wade Park Willie Heta Willie Heta

Ladder[12]

Pos Team Pld W D L PF PA PD Pts Qualification or relegation
1 Cowra Magpies 16 12 1 3 489 276 +213 25 Qualified for the Group 10 Rugby League finals
2 Orange Hawks 16 11 2 3 502 330 +172 24
3 Orange CYMS 16 11 1 4 524 330 +194 23
4 Bathurst Panthers 16 10 2 4 400 286 +114 22
5 Oberon Tigers 16 9 1 6 384 282 +102 19
6 Bathurst St Patrick's 16 5 2 9 400 409 −9 12
7 Mudgee Dragons 16 4 1 11 364 524 −160 9
8 Lithgow Workmen's Club 16 2 1 13 280 492 −212 5
9 Blayney Bears 16 2 1 13 242 620 −378 5
Updated to match(es) played on unknown. Source:
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) point difference; 3) number of points scored.

Play-off bracket

The Group 10 Rugby League finals use the top five McIntyre System:

 
  Qualifying/Elimination Final Major/Minor Semi Final Preliminary Final Grand Final
                                     
1 Cowra Magpies 26  
    Orange Hawks 24         Cowra Magpies 10
2 Orange Hawks 22     Orange Hawks 22   Bathurst Panthers 12
3 Orange CYMS 12       Bathurst Panthers 38  
Orange CYMS 20
4 Bathurst Panthers 22   Bathurst Panthers 21  
5 Oberon Tigers 16

Finals
Home Score Away Match Information
Date and Time Venue Referee
Qualifying Finals
Bathurst Panthers 22-16 Oberon Tigers 18 August 2018, 6:15pm Carrington Park TBA
Orange Hawks 22-12 Orange CYMS 19 August 2018, 2:15pm Wade Park TBA
Semi Finals
Orange CYMS 20-21 Bathurst Panthers 25 August 2018 Wade Park
Cowra Magpies 26-24 Orange Hawks 26 August 2018 Sid Kallas Oval TBA
Preliminary Final
Orange Hawks 22-38 Bathurst Panthers 2 September 2018 Wade Park
Grand Final
Cowra Magpies 10-12 Bathurst Panthers 9 September 2018 Sid Kallas Oval

Grand Final
Cowra Magpies Position Bathurst Panthers
Jeremy GordonFBJosh Rivett
Caley MokWGAndrew Mendes
Bradyn CassidyCEBlake Lawson
Lee McClintockCEJye Barrow
Zachary BrowneWGKade Barrow
Warren WilliamsFEWillie Wright
Joseph BuggHBDoug Hewitt (c)
Zachary StarrPRBrent Seager
Benjamin JohnHKNick Loader
Blake TidswellPRDane Thorogood
Jay McClintockSRBlake Seager
Josh Rainbow (c)SRJack Siejka
Ron LawrenceLKBlake Hewitt
Ben GunnBenchJed Betts
William IngramBenchKara Rotarangi
Mitchell BrowneBenchLuke Bain
John GrantBenchTrent Hotham
Josh RainbowCoachDoug Hewitt

Cowra Magpies hosted its first grand final since 2014, where they lost 34–12 to Bathurst St Pat's. The match will also be Bathurst Panthers first Group 10 premier league grand final since 2007, when they defeated Lithgow Workies 24–4 at Carrington Park.

Cowra hooker and former St Pat's hooker Benji John opened the scoring from dummy-half and Lee McClintock finished off a sweeping play from left to right to give the hosts a 10–0 lead inside the opening 13 minutes.

It became an arm wrestle and Panthers hung in, determined not to concede again. It was in the 57th when the deadlock was broken with Panthers’ lock Blake Hewitt crashing over and Willie Wright converted to reduce the deficit to 10–6.

With minutes remaining, still trailing 10–6, Panthers winger Andrew Mendes scored the equaliser and Wright’s opportunity arose. Having missed his aunty’s wedding to play the grand final, Wright made sure he slotted it, and from his boot, he knew it was going over.

To make it even sweeter, the successful conversion was struck directly in front of the Panthers faithful on the eastern side of the ground. The victory marked Panthers’ first Group 10 premier league title since 2007.

Hewitt lifted the Western Challenge Cup soon after and Panthers powerhouse Brent Seager was presented the Dave Scott Medal for player of the match.

Bathurst Panthers 12 (Blake Hewitt, Andrew Mendes tries; Willie Wright 2 conversions)

Cowra Magpies 10 (Benji John, Lee McClintock tries; Caley Mok conversion)


gollark: Why?
gollark: It's an extreme example which hopefully maybe provides insight into a more realistic case.
gollark: Fascinating.
gollark: If you just doubled the number of people "involved in politics" by some loose definition by taking arbitrary random people, would this actually improve the political situation? I would be surprised if it did; I don't think most have some sort of unique original contribution, but just go for participating in shouting louder at other groups.
gollark: Possibly true but not very relevant.

References
  1. "Anlezark's Bears are full of promise for Group 10 return" in Blayney Chronicle, March 21, 2013
  2. "Cometh the hour: Sullivan's last-gasp field goal seals CYMS' miracle grand final comeback" in Central Western Daily, September 10, 2017
  3. "Starling signs with Oberon, Tigers set to start 2018 as raging-hot favourites" in Central Western Daily, October 2, 2017
  4. "St Pat's to play first game at new ground on Hereford Street" in Western Advocate, April 18, 2018
  5. "St Pat's triumph on new turf with comeback against Oberon Tigers" in Western Advocate, April 22, 2018
  6. "Group 10 cancels round 10 after snow covers Oberon" in Western Advocate, June 17, 2018
  7. "Hawks' minor premiership dream looks in tatters after heartbreaking loss to Oberon" in Central Western Daily, August 5, 2018
  8. "Magpies move to the top" in Cowra Guardian, August 5, 2018
  9. "Central West scoreboard | Every code, every grade, every results | August 11–12" in Lithgow Mercury, August 13, 2018
  10. "Rainbow becomes just fourth Magpie to win Group 10's top honour" in Cowra Guardian, September 3, 2018
  11. "'Patchy' start but Cowra's showing good signs: Sutton" in Western Advocate, April 26, 2018
  12. 2018 Tooheys Group 10 First Grade
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