With the departure of long-serving president Paul Rossiter, Zamparini is one of three (at this stage) candidates to put their hand up for the vacancy, alongside Lithgow’s Bill Ranse, and former Bathurst Panthers president Peter Tobin.

Rossiter’s 17 year tenure in the position will be a hard one to follow, but Zamparini is confident that he has what it takes to do the job.

“I’ve been the Senior Vice President for four years, and spent eight years as the judiciary Chairman, and have been involved in the management team for Group 10 for the last 14 after getting involved on behalf of Oberon Rugby league,” he explained.

“I’m reasonably confident – it is a challenge, and I’ve seen how it works after being the deputy for four years,” he said.

“I believe I’ve still got something to offer – the clubs more or less run the Group, but they need someone to steer them.”

Zamparini also praised the contribution of Rossiter to the Group after his stint in the chair.

“Rocky has done a great job in his time as President, now he’s moved on to the CRL (Country Rugby League),” he said.

The Oberon candidate gave himself as much chance as the other two contenders for the spot, and said that among the problems he would like to address if he gets elected is the state of rugby league in the Central West.

“Peter Clarke has now become the regional manager for the group, and he will be very good,” Zamparini said.

“But we need more contact with the ARL, the NRL and the CRL – they really need to get out here and have a look at things,” he said.

“They have a look at the Riverina area and say that league is very strong in the country – it’s a bit different up here to the Riverina.”

He also highlighted issues like insurance and ever-increasing costs associated with running the clubs and the competition as major points of concern.

“Clubs can not be run on the back of chook raffles,” he said.

The presidency of Group 10 will be decided this Sunday at the AGM to be held at Panthers Leagues Club.