Woodbridge Cup Corner: Praising Cargo's league tag and promotion-relegation thoughts

In 2022, the Cargo Blue Heelers weren't even sure they would be able to field a league tag team. Desperate for player numbers, they searched far and wide to make sure the club could still operate as normal.

As one would expect, this led to some bad results on the field, so bad they went winless and were shutout in more than a third of their matches.

"They loved it out here and said they'd be coming back, even though they got beat every game," player-coach Ebony Watson said of last season's side.

Despite retaining the core of that team - while welcoming back a few familiar faces to the playing group such as Watson - Cargo lost its first three games of 2023.

Fast-forward to now and the Blue Heelers are holders of the longest active winning streak (six) in the Woodbridge Cup league tag competition.

The streak started on May 7 when Cargo travelled to Molong and took town a very handy Bulls outfit 28-22.

"Everyone's spirits lifted and we've been on a roll since," Watson added.

Victories against Canowindra, Trundle, Peak Hill, Oberon and most recently CSU then followed. This streak has rocketed Cargo into fifth sport on the ladder with a good shot of playing finals footy.

"The club is loving that we're getting some wins," Warson said.

"Everyone's rallying around us girls and are very excited. Hopefully we can do it some justice."

While it's anyone's guess how the ladder will shape up come finals time, there is one thing for certain.

"We've already exceeded our expectations," Watson said.

"Having this winning streak is good for us, but everyone's goal is the grand final."

Promotion and relegation; it's a long thought out concept and one that gets talked about each and every year.

So what makes this time around so different? Well, it's the belief that it may soon become necessary.

The joining of Group 10 and Group 11 to form the Peter McDonald Premiership was meant to bring forth a new and improved rugby league competition. It was meant to be the envy of the rest of the state.

Instead, those fireworks have fizzled out. Despite a weekend that finally saw G10 get the edge over G11 in a handful of games, the talent gap has become quite clear, with the winless Orange CYMS having become the punching bag on more than one occasion.

On the other hand, Woodbridge's adoption of Orange United, Oberon and CSU from the Mid West Cup has been hailed as a raging success.

So what does this have to do with promotion and relegation you may ask.

Well, when the gap between the best teams in the Woodbridge Cup and worst in the PMP, is closer than that between the PMP cellar dwellers and title favourites, it begs the question of if there is a need to change.

Now, judging any club based on a single-season sample size wouldn't be fair to anyone, after all, Orange CYMS were contending for a premiership less than 12 months ago.

My proposal would call for consistency on both ends of the spectrum.

Should a team finish in the bottom two of the PMP for three straight years, they would become eligible for relegation. In a similar vein, should a Woodbridge side finish in the top two of the regular season standing three years on the trot, while also winning at least one premiership, then they too would become eligible.

Rather than have teams play off against each other, should both worlds collide, then the promotion and relegation would become automatic on one condition...that the team moving to the PMP is happy to do so. This would give clubs like CYMS a chance to get back on their feet, while also making sure any team coming up won't be overly outmatched or financially unable to contend.

Still following along? Good, because we're about to throw another spanner in the works.

For the next two seasons following their relegation and promotion, the clubs would be linked that should they finish in the top and bottom two of their respective tables, they will each play off against each other for the opportunity to either stay where they are in the PMP, or move back to the competition they once called home.

While we're aware this would likely never happen, there's something to be said for continually exploring ways to make competitions better.

Each week we will take a look at which teams have been lighting up the first grade and league tag competitions, alternating between the two.

For those unfamiliar with a power ranking ladder, it's similar to your conventional standings, except it's completely subjective and based on who we think is in the best form, regardless of their points total.

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