Both clubs will return to action in the under 18s competition, and both will try to use the re-entry as a springboard into the top two senior grades in the coming years.

Oberon still has a senior open side playing in the Centennial Coal Cup (formerly the Mid-West premiership) which has kept the flag flying in recent seasons, but Blayney has not fielded a senior league team for several years in any competition.

The return of the 18s in 2009 is being treated as a stepping stone to a fully-fledged comeback.

“That’s what we’re aiming for - we think there is a chance that we can have a first division team in the Group 10 competition,” Blayney secretary Lisa Oborn said.

“I think the boys will be very competitive, they beat Oberon in a trial match and they looked good in the Western Challenge.

“Steve Funnell is training the boys and has had experience with the Dragons and Roosters at NRL level, the boys really listen to him and take in a lot of what he says.”

Funnell and Steve Miller will train the side while Clayton Farr will assume the coaching duties.

And how do the boys think they will go?

“They’re going to win it of course,” Oborn quipped.

Oberon have had recent experience in the competition unlike their Blayney counterparts, but it was not a memorable venture for any of their grades, particularly the under 18s.

They left the competition in 2006 and have not played at any level since, but Tigers publicity officer Kerry Gibbons says that the new crop of players are committed and ready to go.

So confident is he in the talent at Oberon - a town which has produced some of the greatest players in Group 10 history - that he not only predicts that they will be competitive, but that they will make the semi-finals.

“I’m very confident because all the players are keen and motivated. Last time the 18s played in Group 10 we scraped the barrell a bit but this year we have 13 guys who will take the field every week ready to give it their best,” Gibbons said.

“We put three tries on CYMS and Pat’s in the Oberon Knock-out and only lost because of goal-kicking so I’m expecting to make the semis.

“We got to a stage where we had to look at what we could do to re-enter first grade, and now with under 15s, 16s and 18s we are on the way and we are thinking that maybe in the next one or two years we can get a side back in first grade.”

The Oberon under 18s will be under the duel coaching of Darren and Mark Hotham.