Rugby league fans in Coolamon are being urged to attend a special formative meeting this weekend which aims to revive a senior team in the town.

Organised by Battlers For Bush Footy and Coolamon Raiders JRLC President Tom Besgrove, the meeting aims to re-establish a senior rugby league presence in the town after three decades without a side.

Battlers For Bush Footy founder and meeting co-organiser Tallon Smith said that the meeting offers a unique opportunity to build upon the success of the junior Raiders in establishing a pathway to open age football.

“This meeting offers an opportunity to capitalise on the recent growth of rugby league in Coolamon by setting up a senior club,” he said.

“With momentum in the form of a growing junior club behind us, this push is designed to both give current adult players the chance to represent their town in open age competition of some form, as well as set up the infrastructure of a senior club for when junior players graduate to the senior age groups.”

Coolamon formerly fielded a team, known as the Raiders, in the Kennedy Shield second division competition during the 1980s and 1990s, winning two premierships during that time.

Similarly to the original Raiders, Smith said that the goal would be to enter a lower division competition to begin with, and potentially build from there.

“Given that any startup club in the Eastern Riverina would be a long way off the standard of Group 9, a number of options are on the table in the interim,” he said.

“The first is the Tumut Pub 9s, or Roddy Shield, which runs in the pre-season around February and March and avoids clashing with the Coolamon Rovers’ season for any blokes interested in playing both codes.

“Another option is the Proten Community Cup, which may require longer drives, but would guarantee longer games, and matches during the traditional winter football season from May to July.

“Eventually Group 9 is the aim when the juniors start coming through, that will always be the long-term vision, but right now that is a long way away, and this is about setting up a senior club to both inspire and cater for the growing junior base.”

After founding and serving as President of the Coolamon Raiders over the past two years, Tom Besgrove knows all about the challenges of starting a rugby league club in the traditional Aussie Rules stronghold.

When asked what the key to success will be for any potential senior club, Besgrove said that finding people that are passionate about the game and willing to devote time to it will be crucial to the success of the club.

“Any club needs volunteers, and the early success and growth of any club is going to require exactly that,” he said.

“That’s what I’ve learned in two years of the Junior Raiders, you need people who are going to help.

“Yes, it’s a meeting about general interest, but it’s a meeting for anyone with a genuine interest in playing or volunteering for the club.

“For someone who’s been out of the game for a while, that misses it and wants to re-engage with it in some way, this is an opportunity to play or volunteer in a lower division without losing all of your family and weekend time or impacting your work commitments.”

After the launch of the junior Raiders, the game has exploded in popularity in Coolamon over the past two years, with the club fielding teams in four age groups this year.

Speaking on the benefits for the juniors, Besgrove also said that the prospect of having combined training sessions would only inspire younger players to continue playing the game.

“The thought of having a senior team is an exciting prospect for our junior league, particularly in order to have a relationship with them,” he said.

“Coming from Dunedoo, there was nothing better as a junior than training with the seniors.

“There’s an opportunity for something like that, and that would be really cool.”

The meeting will be held tomorrow, Saturday November 29, at the Coolamon Sport and Recreation Club, beginning at 4pm.