When Panthers stage another edition of its knockout this Friday and Saturday only one participating club - CSU - is not a member of the 2020 Group 10 premiership.

The Mungoes play their club football in the Midwest League, a competition which is run by Group 10. They have been included in the reserve grade knockout competition to eliminate the need for a bye after Blayney was unable to enter a team.

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The first grade draw features all eight Group 10 clubs - Bathurst Panthers, St Pat's, Lithgow, Mudgee, Cowra, Orange CYMS and Orange Hawks.

While Bathurst Panthers president Dennis Comerford said there had been interest shown by some Group 11 clubs in joining the tournament, he envisages it will remain the domain of Group 10 outfits.

It has been that way for more than a decade, though clubs from outside the region such as Tumbarumba have previously contested the knockout

"We had some enquiries from some Group 11 clubs that wanted to enter into it, but because it is compulsory for Group 10 clubs, it's a bit unfair if we bring clubs from outside the Group into it at this stage," he said.

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"That could be something that's looked into further down the track, but in saying that, if we bring clubs from further outside our Group we get back to a situation we had quite a few years ago where you had clubs that pay players and play in a lot stronger competitions like from Sydney.

"If that happens the local clubs don't get a chance at collecting the prize money and we'd certainly prefer the prize money to stay within Group 10 and let the Group 10 clubs have a shot at it.

"At the moment under those conditions it works quite well and we're pretty happy with that."

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