The three-week tournament was cancelled due to a lack of players registering.

Group 4’s Facebook page reported that just 24 players had registered.

Price said Gunnedah had 16 players interested in played and that “10 to 14” had registered.

Price said the registration process – which the onus is on each player to register themselves through a provided online link – had proved to be a barrier.

“I think Group 4 tried. And we tried to get a team and other clubs tried to get teams together,” Price said.

“We had 16 girls interested. The trouble we had, I think, is registering the girls. They had to register and pay up front.

“I think if they had rego and then pay on the night, it might have worked better.

“I had so much interest in Gunnedah but not everyone’s got a credit card and can pay online or have the cash up front.”

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Group 4 chairman Ray McCoy was similarly disappointed the competition won’t be going ahead but said the registration process had to be done through the link.

“The due process is you need to register through the link, money is to be received and move on from there. It’s a learning curve,” he said.

He added: “Without being disrespectful, the players have had enough time to get on board and we’re disappointed the numbers weren't there.”

With so much interest from Gunnedah players – something McCoy was encouraged by – Price would like to see a women’s rugby league competition up and running next year.

“We’ve got until April 4 or 5 before the season starts. Let’s put something in place now. Get the ball rolling,” Price said.

McCoy said a women’s competition in 2019 wasn’t likely but said in the future there was room for a league tag and a tackle competition for women in Group 4.

Group 4 are now in the process of scheduling trials for the representative women’s tackle team.

McCoy said the trials may run alongside the under 23 trials but the dates will be confirmed after discussions at Group 4’s AGM on November 4.