REAFFIRMED Group 4 chairman Terry Psarakis painted a "bright" picture for the local rugby league competition when it held its annual general meeting at Wests on Sunday.
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The Tamworth accountant had assumed the interim chairman's job after the resignation of former Group 4 chairman Ray McCoy earlier in the year.
He ramrodded a Group 4 Board that had instituted the highly successful Wests Entertainment Group 9s and plotted a course back to a positive financial position.
That success prompted the Group 4 clubs to vote unanimously for Psarakis to remain in the chairman position along with his four other current board members - Ron Binge, Craig Power, Lisa Dellar, Lad Jones - as well as adding two new board members to replace the outgoing McCoy and North Tamworth club president Jody Cooper who tragically passed away.
Former West Tamworth and Tamworth City Lion Pat Crowe, also a former North Tamworth club president and committee member, and Mick Schmiedel, a former West Lion, Tamworth City player and captain-coach who will coach Gunnedah in the 2021 season, were voted onto the board.
The Group 4 AGM also conducted a minute's silence in the memory of Jody Cooper and former referee Bob Edgecock, at the head of the AGM following their untimely deaths earlier this year.
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It was a short but respected interval before hearing a positive report from an excited chairman.
"Everything points to a bright future," Psarakis said.
"We are looking ahead to better times with brighter picture."
Psarakis and his board had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, cancelling the 2020 season but it didn't deter them as they elected to run a short Wests Entertainment Group-sponsored 9s (WEG 9s) and watched it grow into a significant and successful competition at Scully Park over four Saturday nights in Tamworth.
"The WEG 9s helped us for sure," he told the AGM in the Ken Chillingworth Room at Wests.
"It was a great promotion for us. It went off better than any of us imagined. I was particularly impressed with the four captains - Brenton Cochrane, Mitch Doring, Cody Tickle and Scott Blanch. They were outstanding. It also showed in the Bottlemart Man Of The Match Awards too (Doring won the Man of the Series from Cochrane with Tickle and Blanch also polling well).
"It was a great advertisement for the game and our clubs."
Psarakis thanked Group 4 secretary Catherine Weeks and treasurer Geoff Dunn for their great input as well as the new sponsors attracted to the WEG 9s - Carey's Freight Lines, Marius Street Family Dental, Shay Brennan Constructions and JT Fossey.
The chairman also thanked his board members - Lisa Dellar, Ron Binge, Craig Power and Lad Jones - for their great input and effort, especially with the highly successful WEG 9s.
Group 4 also improved on the balance sheet and turned around a loss into a profit of around $20,000.
"I believe there is a bright future for rugby league in Group 4, with added sponsorship, more positive media exposure and a hard-working board, I think it's going to be a very exciting period," Psarakis said.
Group 4 has its new 2021 season tentatively starting on the ANZAC weekend next season and ending with grand finals in early September.
