THE growing stature of league tag in the Central West will be on show once more this weekend in Dubbo as the Western Division representative carnival is staged with an expanded format for the first time.

In addition to the Group 10 and Woodbridge Cup sides, Castlereagh Cup and Group 11 will both have teams competing at the cluster as the code continues to expand in the region.

A number of Bathurst players were selected in the Group 10 team to be coached by Lithgow’s Anthony Boza – six in total with four coming from St Pat’s and another two from Panthers.

Saints players Karah Armstrong, Emily Rhynehart, Brigid Rhynehart and new recruit Olivia Patterson join Panthers duo Jess Hotham and Matilda Power in the team.

On paper, the selection of only two Panthers players might have looked like something of an oversight given that they have lost just one game since 2013 and are two-time defending premiers in their competition.

However, as star playmaker Hotham explained, it was a matter of availability.

“It was definitely not a selection issue or a snub or anything like that, we just had a lot of girls that would have probably otherwise been under consideration who couldn’t play this weekend,” Hotham explained.

“It is so exciting to see how quickly this whole thing has developed just in the three years since the Group 10 competition got started.

“There was a bit of trial and error there to begin with, but it has gotten bigger and better. The standard has improved and we [Panthers] even got the chance to go to the State Championships last year to cap it all off.”

Hotham has been with Panthers since the start of the league tag concept when she and her Panthers team-mates took on St Pat’s in exhibition matches.

She was named in the inaugural Group 10 side two seasons ago, but had to sit out last year’s match with Woodbridge Cup due to a hamstring injury.

With four teams competing this Saturday there will be more to play for in comparison to previous years where Group 10 had a one-off opportunity to play.

Hotham is hopeful that with other Groups and divisions starting to adopt the code, soon enough they will actually be playing for a spot in a Western Division side.

“Talking to Dave Elvy recently, he said there is something in the pipeline maybe for next year where we can represent Western,” she said.

“This year if we win our first game [against Castlereagh Cup] we get to go on and play for the Western title against the winner of the other game, so there is still a lot to play for but having that next step would be good too.

“I don’t know a lot about the other sides, but I’d imagine Group 11 will be made up mostly of Dubbo girls.

“We had a bit of a training run on Wednesday and the girls who hadn’t met before got to know each other which was nice, it is a pretty young and fast squad we have.

“I don’t tend to think of myself as a senior player, but playing at halfback it is your role to do a lot of talking and directing, so I feel a bit of pressure from time to time. I’ve been doing it for a while now though, so I’m used to it.”

Group 10 play Castlereagh Cup on Saturday at 10am, with the winner to go on to the final against either Woodbridge Cup or Group 11 at 1.30pm.

The losing sides will play in a consolation play-off for third place.

GROUP 10: 1 Sophie Stammers (Blayney), 2 Kelly Dowdy (Mudgee), 3 Tahlia Nugent (Lithgow), 4 Holly Gibson (CYMS), 5 Mallory Goodman (Lithgow), 6 Tori Moore (CYMS), 7 Jess Hotham (Panthers), 8 Matilda Power (Panthers), 9 Emily Rhynehart (St Pat’s), 10 Sheryll Selwood (Hawks), 11 Brigid Rhynehart (St Pat’s), 12 Olivia Patterson (St Pat’s), 13 Chrissie West (Lithgow), 14 Zoe Mawkes (Oberon), 15 Karah Armstrong (St Pat’s), 16 Maddy Bender (Lithgow).