GROUP Three Rugby League chief executive Mal Drury said the timing and future of the Group Three All Stars/Indigenous All Stars games will be discussed in the off-season.
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The All Stars matches for men, women and under 18s will be played at Wingham on Saturday, July 15, six weeks before the start of the semi-finals. There'll be no club football next weekend.
"The group management has talked about the timing (of the All Stars) and we've come to the conclusion there's no perfect time to play the games,'' Mr Drury said.
He said the group plays the matches in conjunction with NAIDOC Week.
"That's why it's scheduled for mid July,'' he said.
Mr Drury said support from the under 18s and women's games remains strong. However, last year both All Stars sides had numerous players withdraw.
"The men don't seem to be embracing it,'' he said.
"Last year we had to get four or five under 18 players to fill in for the men's sides because of late withdrawals. They'd already played one game, so it was hard on them.''
He added the group this year will stand down players for one game if they withdraw from the All Star encounter without a suitable explanation.
"We really don't want to force players to play, but it we don't do that it will end of being like last year,'' he said.
Mr Drury said the start of the year the Mid North Coast Rugby League discussed the possibility of playing a fixture between Indigenous representative sides from Groups Two and Three. Mr Drury believes this idea has merit.
However, it was too late to implement it for this season as Wingham had already ordered jumpers for the All Stars fixtures.
Mr Drury said during the off-season there would be further discussion on the All Stars concept and when to play the games.
He added that playing an Indigenous Round, similar to the NRL, without impacting on the competition-proper, is another possibility.
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