By Tania Phillips
The shock withdrawal of Tenterfield from this year’s Border Rugby League Competition just days before the first game has forced the complete reworking of this year’s draw according to Stanthorpe Gremlins Club president and men’s coach Roger O’Brien.
O’Brien said the Gremlins had been set to host the opening round of the competition at the weekend but the shock withdrawal had forced a rethink with four teams remaining.
The loss comes a few months after the withdrawal of the Warwick’s Eastern Suburbs.
He said he believed the committee was set to release the reworked draw later this week and the Gremlins were still hopeful of holding the first week’s competition probably now on 27 April.
“We have had to change our draw and it should get ratified hopefully this week and then we will have it up and running,” he said.
“We had the draw and everything set but with Tenterfield going we will probably go to three rounds and push the start date out.
“We were meant to host the round robin on the weekend just gone.”
O’Brien said it had been sad to see Tenterfield unable to field but he doubted that this was the last the competition would see of the club.
“They thought they might have been ok but unfortunately they couldn’t pull it together,” the Gremlins head said of the last minute withdrawal.
“It’s a shame, the women in particular were doing very well but they were both very talented squads.
“I spoke to their president and wished him the best, it’s a pretty tough decision for a club to make.
“They would have given it a lot of thought and they would have gone through a lot of processes. “We wish them the best and I’m sure they will be back in 2025 very strong. They are a very proud club and a very proud community. I think we’ll see them back. I wouldn’t think this is the end for Tenterfield.”
The women’s team won the competition last year while the men’s title went to Inglewood.
This year’s competition will now include Stanthorpe, Texas, Inglewood and Boggabilla.
“We were pretty lucky last year we went out to six teams last year with Warwick’s Eastern Suburbs, obviously Tenterfield has always been part of it and we had Boggabilla come in,” he said.
“It’s unfortunate but it will be a good competition, we’ll go three rounds this year.
“We are still looking forward to it and we are still in good shape.
“It’s actually a special year for Stanthorpe this year. It’s 105 years for the rugby league but it’s 50 years for our Gremlins logo. So we’ve got a special night organised for 27 July, we will have a bit of an event, get some of the old boys back and do some replica jerseys for the 1974 team which will play on that day. We’ll be in the civic centre that night and we’ll all try and catch up and celebrate 50 years.”
He said despite the disappointing loss of Tenterfield from this year’s competition, the Gremlins themselves were “going ok” looking forward to a great season.
O’Brien said they had a lot of interest particularly in the women’s side this year.
“We have more numbers there, we are doing really well and the men’s side is looking good too,” he said.
“We were ready for Saturday, we had enough for Saturday. For a lot of the blokes the farm work is easing up and we are getting them to training. It makes it a bit easier as we get further into the season too.
“Even our junior numbers are looking good too which is great and they are due to start on 20 March.”
