The Bathurst Panthers Knockout was tentatively booked in by Group 10 for March 19-20 when the draw was announced last month.

However, it seems unlikely it will go ahead on the proposed dates due to a clash with the first week of the Gold Crown Carnival, which would take away a number of footballers including Panthers skipper Doug Hewitt and Blayney Bears coach Wade Judd.

Panthers treasurer Danny Dwyer said there's also a number of other reasons that the date is unlikely to work and club officials will meet together in the coming weeks to work out when the best time to hold the knockout is.

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"The lateness of the start of the season has made it hard to figure out when we're going to run the knockout," he said.

"The second weekend in March was what we were planning for but that makes it six weeks before the comp starts, which makes it a little bit too early.

"It also clashes with the Gold Crown, which is usually on the final weekend of March, so we've always steered away from that in the past. Having a lot of players, not just from Panthers, but from other sides like Wade Judd, you don't want to put it on a weekend when they can't play.

"Then we go straight into Easter and then we have the Indigenous game.

"It's just those little things. You just want to make it as seamless as possible."

This year's knockout will be contested by all eight Group 10 clubs in the premier league draw of the competition, however, the door will be open for Mid West Cup teams such as reigning premiers Oberon Tigers and CSU Mungoes to compete in the first division draw.

Dwyer is open to the idea of allowing non-Group 10 teams to compete in the knockout in the future, however, it will be restricted to the local clubs for 2021.

"The time might come further down the track, that the best way moving forward for the knockout is to open it up to let other teams to enter," he said.

"It did cross our mind a little bit when West Wyalong was postponed due to COVID, that there was an opportunity to invite teams from Group 9 and Group 11, but in the spirit of keeping things as close to normal coming out of COVID, we'll keep doing what we're doing for now.

"We could open it up and create a lot more interest, because if the prizemoney is pretty good, I think a lot of clubs will chase it, particularly in the pre-season.

"I think that would make for a really interesting knockout competition, not a nines or a sevens competition, but a fully 13-a-side knockout that clubs can use as a hit-out before the start of their competition."

The 2020 Bathurst Panthers Knockout back in late February was Group 10's only real taste of top-level rugby league, as the entire season was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Orange CYMS won last year's knockout with a 13-12 victory over city rivals Hawks in the final.

All eight Group 10 clubs - Panthers, Blayney, Cowra, CYMS, Hawks, Lithgow, Mudgee and St Pat's - are all required to enter teams in the premier league draw.