A lot to unpack there
@schmidt it in - but here goes! If you do move to the CW you will do yourself a favour by getting involved with a rugby club and from personal experience I will say Forbes is certainly a great one!
You've pretty much summed it up with the Blowes and New Holland Cups. Not that many years ago it was one big comp but there was a big difference between the bigger clubs and the smaller clubs, some big score lines, and something needed to change. Eventually the clubs with 3 grades went to Blowes and the others went to New Holland. After a couple of years the smaller towns like Cowra and Forbes started to struggle for 3rd grade but the premier comp needs clubs like these ones to exist otherwise its just back to 4 (Orange x 2, Bathurst, and Dubbo) which isn't a great spectacle. It is hard for the likes of Forbes and Cowra to compete with the Orange/Bathurst/Dubbo clubs, which are based in significantly bigger regional centres, especially being amateur clubs where quality employment opportunities for players are important.
So yes it might seem a bit funny to have clubs like Forbes and Parkes, that are 30km apart, in separate comps but that's just how it has worked out in recent years. It might change one day - who knows - but be assured the 2 towns have a long, and sometimes bitter, rivalry going back many decades across a wide range of sports.
There is also another couple of comps for the one team CW towns - Oilsplus North and Oilplus South West. North teams are: Coonabarabran, Molong, Trangie, Coolah, Blayney, Geurie, Yeoval, Wellington, and Canowindra. South West teams are: Harden, Young, Boorowa, West Wyalong, Cootamundra, Grenfell, Temora and maybe one or 2 others that I can't remember off the top of my head.
I hope this clears some this up for you. BTW - Blowes Cup comp for 2025 kicks off this weekend!
