LINORE Zamparini loves "any chance you can get" to see Group 10 clubs stick it to their Group 11 counterparts, so he has his fingers crossed a new under 21s Western Division pre-season competition will go ahead in 2021.
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The long-serving Group 10 president feels such a competition would give younger players in the region some valuable match-fitness after COVID-19 forced the cancellation of league premierships last season.
That and it would give them a chance to test themselves against Group 11's best young talent.
"It will basically be done before the competitions start, it will give the younger fellas something to do," Zamparini said.
"We just want to try and get those guys back in, because at the end of the day no-one really knows what they've got for the season because they didn't play in 2020.
"You can run around a park and train at a gym all you want, but if you don't have that match fitness you're a little bit behind the eight-ball, so this will be really good for them.
"Yeah, it's good to stick it to Group 11 any chance you can get," he added with a laugh.
Proposed by former New South Wales Rugby League Western manager Peter Clarke, his successor Evan Jones and Far West competitions support officer Dallas Reeves, the under 21s pre-season competition is open to all Group 10 and Group 11 clubs.
At this stage St Pat's and Orange CYMS are reported to be the two Group 10 clubs who will commit to the competition, while four clubs from Group 11 have expressed their interest.
More could follow, with the a starting date yet to be confirmed.
"They've invited everyone to put a team in and let's just say that Pat's can't get enough for a team, they can have some people come over from Panthers or Lithgow or Oberon or wherever to help them start this 21s comp," Zamparini said.
"I think it's a pretty good idea, we've been starved of a little bit of football in that age group, it will just be a little bit of a dangling carrot I guess to warm things up for the season proper."
While admitting not all Group 10 clubs will have enough eligible players to take part in the proposed competition, Zamparini knows there are still plenty of league talents who do meet the age criteria.
He is excited to see what they can produce.
"It should make for a pretty interesting comp," he said.
"They're all out there, you probably don't notice them as much because they're all playing premier league, but put them on their own and there's some pretty good players out there for sure."
While the participants and a draw for the under 21s competition is yet to be finalised, the simple prospect of seeing senior league resume is something which excites Zamparini.
Neither Group 10 or Group 11 ran senior league tag, reserve grade or first grade premierships in 2020 due to COVID-19.
"I think there will still be some tough times, but hopefully things can go ahead because we're going through withdrawals," he said.
The Group 10 season starts April 24-25 and Group 11 on May 2.
