Mid North Coast rugby union presidents have been left with more questions than answers after the first draft of a proposed 2023 season draw landed in their email inboxes on March 26.
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As it stands, the six-team first grade competition will go for 14 weeks, but each team will have four byes while second grade teams will have only two byes due to the seven-team competition.
While Hastings Valley Vikings and Port Macquarie Pirates believe the draw appears to not prioritise first grade, Kempsey Cannonballs president Lance Byrne had a differing view.
"The majority of players would like to see a 12-round competition with only two byes, but we're happy to deal with whatever goes," he said.
"You've got 10 rounds, win a major semi-final then win a grand final and who cares whether we played 12 games of football or 17 games of football."
Vikings president David Barnes and Pirates' counterpart Scott Marks, however, believe it is "absolute madness" to have first grade teams playing no more than a maximum of three weeks in a row.
They say it halts any momentum a team can generate.
"It (the draft draw) seems to be based on a reserve grade fixture rather than a first grade fixture and I believe first grade should be the ones playing more games," Barnes said.
"We only play for three weeks in a row twice out of the 14 rounds."
The main reason is the reserve grade competition will be made up of seven teams while first grade will have just six.
"First grade should not be penalised for an extra team playing in reserve grade," Barnes said.
Marks echoed Barnes' sentiments and questioned how a six-team competition could still feature byes.
"Four byes in 14 weeks... it's absolute madness," he said.
"The priority has got to be first grade and not reserve grade because in any comp you play anywhere in the world, the priority is the last game of the day.
"We're all on the same page; you can't have six sides and have a bye every round."
Mid North Coast Rugby executive officer Tim Chapman, however, acknowledged there had been a number of challenges the zone had to overcome in compiling the draw.
"Community sport has a number of logistical hurdles that need to be ticked off on," Chapman said.
"Some of those challenges are the introduction of a youth girls competition in that 14 to 16 years of age bracket and we'll welcome those into the draw."
Chapman said unfortunately Port Macquarie didn't look as though they would enter a team into either of those grades.
The grand final has been pencilled in for August 26 while teams will have a week off over the June long weekend to allow representative fixtures to be played with minimal impact on club football.
Both the southern - previously known as Lower Mid North Coast - and northern division competitions will kick-off on April 29.
"That competition (southern division) will see an increase in teams from three last year to five this year," Chapman said.
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