Wyndham City Rhinos’ president Ean Drummond has called on the Victorian Rugby Union to look at overhauling the competition’s second division.
The Rhinos are one of a number of second-tier clubs that don’t meet the criteria for premier status because they lack the prerequisite three senior teams.
Drummond told Star Weekly the second division was fast becoming the backwater of Victorian rugby, and he fears his club will be forgotten in the bigger picture if changes are not made.
“We don’t get a lot of support from community rugby in the second division,” he said. “All of the emphasis is on the premier division. The second division – I call it the set-and-forget division – they set it and forget about it.”
The Rhinos feature in the top-flight A-grade section of the second division. That competition started with eight teams, and went down to six after the demise of Melton and Northern.
Instead of playing a game this Saturday, the Rhinos will have a bye due to Melton pulling out of the competition.
Drummond feels it’s time for the structure of the leagues to be reviewed, and he wants to see the stronger second division clubs promoted to the premier ranks where they can fight for promotion to higher leagues.
“I think they need to rethink the way the competition is structured,” Drummond said. “They have P1, P2, P3 and P4.
“In years gone by, the P4 was a bits and pieces kind of division, but it’s formed into a fairly good competition.
“Where we’re at, we can only play who’s in the second division … there are Melbourne-based clubs here we could get into a competition with in Premier 4,” Drummond said.
“They need to make it more competitive for clubs like ours, which are still fairly strong.”
Meanwhile, the Rhinos are bound for the finals after a 57-19 win over Maroondah at Mossfiel Reserve on Saturday.
