A crippling player shortage has forced a Peter McDonald Premiership first grade side to pull the pin on the final round.
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Orange Hawks won't take the field against Bathurst St Pat's at Wade Park on Saturday August 10.
The Two Blues have battled throughout 2024, only winning two games and being rooted to the bottom of the table.
Their most recent match ended in a 64-0 loss to Parkes Spacemen with several reserve grade players backing up.
President Bridie McClure said with the under 18s flying atop the ladder and reserve grade sitting sixth, coach Shane Rodney had made the call to not risk injury with only nine first grade players available.
"We'll definitely be forfeiting the first grade fixture on the weekend," she said.
"They only had nine first graders available.
"Obviously we've sustained a few injuries throughout the year and then also people had other things on and Shane was a bit hesitant to obviously pull our reserve graders up for a game that wasn't really going to matter when reserve grade has a chance of making the finals."
Pat's will now temporarily move into the top four on 20 points however will have to watch the result between Orange CYMS and Bathurst Panthers who are both on 18 points.
Saints have a +1 points differential, with a forfeit counting as 20-0, while CYMS are on +64 and Panthers on -12, meaning Panthers will need to win by 34 points to snare a double chance.
Coach Chris Osbourne said it was disappointing for the side not to have a match before the knockout stages but said he hoped Hawks could bounce back in 2025.
"We were coming in on the back of two good wins and it would have been nice to keep that momentum going," he said.
"However, it's out of our control now. We just have to look after ourselves this week. I was thinking of giving a couple of them a rest anyway, and I guess the good thing is that we won't get any injuries out of this week.
"I think it just came down to their numbers not being there.
"I believe some blokes were backing up from reserve grade to play a full game of reserve grade.
"It's disappointing for them and it's tough to see another club going through that. Hopefully they can recover and be strong again next year."
League tag, under 18s and reserve grade will still be played, now kicking off at 12pm.
Alexander Grant
Dominic Unwin
Sports reporter covering the length and breadth of Western NSW since 2024. Got a yarn? Send me an email via dominic.unwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
