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Two-tier rugby has survived in the North West after a meeting of the minds in Tamworth on the weekend.
Central North Rugby Union club representatives voted unanimously, 75 per cent in favour to keep the new grading system for the remainder of the season despite some calls for it to be scrapped.
It means the Gunnedah Red Devils, who had wins in two grades against Inverell on Saturday, retain fourth spot on the first and reserve grade leaderboard in a bid to claim the competition’s top title later this year. Lower ranked teams will play for second-tier premiership titles.
What’s more, the Devils’ first grade look to have a foot in the finals door already with a strong nine-point lead on fifth-placed Inverell.
Gunnedah club President Stu Morrison said the nine-point buffer means the Devils “would have to shoot themselves in the foot” to be denied a finals’ berth because “the gap between fourth and fifth is so big”.
The Devils first grade ran in a 39-8 victory against a home-town Inverell outfit last weekend, while reserves took out a gutsy 27-17 win.
Walsh said firsts did everything right and made a “solid improvement” on the week before.
“We picked up in a lot of areas, like at the breakdown, that let us down last time,” he said.
“There was plenty of metres going forward and the backs got good ball too.”
The task couldn’t get much tougher for the Devils in their first round of the new top-tier draw this weekend when the Devils face Narrabri on home turf.
Walsh said it’s a warm introduction to what will be a big few weeks of rugby for the club in the competition’s top ranks.
“It means we will have lots of teams playing real good footy,” he said.
“There are no easy games and all are just as important.
“Coming fourth is great but third is better.”