The Mudgee Wombats are encouraging under 19s to give Colts a go.
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One of the club’s senior co-ordinators, Luke Humphreys, underlined the importance of the grade to the Wombats.
“Colts are important, not just because you need them for Blowes Cup, but also because it’s how juniors move through into senior football,” he said.
“They’re an important group of the club because these lads are the future, so we’re working hard to look after them.”
Tony Moylan is the new Wombats Colts coach and from his involvement with the club’s juniors said he would like to see them make the transition into seniors via the grade.
“I’ve been here 15/16 years and I was involved in the juniors when I first got here because of my son,” he said.
“And we’ve got outstanding juniors in Mudgee, for numbers and also talent, we’ve got a lot of representative players - from 10s all the way to 17s.
“I would love to encourage those kids to play Colts as the next step.”
And part of this will involve a barbecue after each Wednesday’s training for the players to get to know each other better.
“Tony wants to do a different style of football this year and incorporate the whole club, and I’m 100 per cent with that,” he said.
Both Moylan and Humphreys acknowledge it’s a tricky age group to draw potential players from, given it’s a time in their lives when they are looking to university and into employment.
But this is a problem that’s not unique to Mudgee, with many clubs across the region experiencing the same challenge.
Nonetheless, the coach is optimistic for the year ahead.
“I’m really looking forward to the season, hopefully it will be a successful one because having a successful Colts team is part of a successful club especially in the bush,” he said.
“They played in the finals last year and hopefully we can go further this year.”
The Mudgee Wombats Colts will be training at Jubilee Oval at 6pm Wednesday.