Rugby Union: Cluch TV to televise Central North first grade games

Well not quite but close to.

Rugby fans will have more access to games than ever before thanks to an arrangement with community sport streaming network Cluch TV to broadcast the first grade games weekly as well as all of the finals.

It's not the first time Central North games have been live-streamed but in the past that has generally been reserved to the finals series.

This will be every first grade game with Central North having it's own channel on the service.

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A first for a community competition in the region, it will take the game to a wider audience and mean supporters can tune in to watch their club from wherever in the world they are.

President Paul King said it is "a great thing" for the competition.

"It just adds to the competition," he said.

He believes the interest is there pointing out that last year towards the end of the season "everyone was glued to their screens" checking the scores on Rugby Explorer (live scoring app).

"Having that (live-streaming) will be really good for the clubs and the zone," he said.

"The coaches will also have access to that for training purposes."

It's one of a few new initiatives for the upcoming season, which kicks off on April 9.

Another is the introduction of a Kookaburra Challenge Cup, which will run for the 18 rounds of the regular competition.

"It works by Gunnedah are the first holders (as last year's minor premiers), and it will be defended on a weekly basis. If you lose you hand it over (and so forth)," King explained.

"It will add a bit of interest on a week-by-week basis."

The zone are, in partnership with New England, also running a referees academy.

It is set to kick-off soon and will run throughout the season, provisionally, for the next three years.

Instigated to try and grow the referee ranks in both zones, King said over 30, junior and senior referees, have applied to be involved in that.

This season will also see a women's best and fairest award introduced, which on Sunday the club's voted on to be named after Rhiannon Byers. Byers was part of the Inverell side that won the first-ever women's 7s title before being plucked from the local ranks to the Australian women's 7s program.

It was also passed on Sunday to award long-time competition manager Wayne McMahon Life Membership in recognition of all of his hard work and dedication.

McMahon's official involvement with the zone began in 2013 when he was elected competition registrar.

He continued in the position for eight seasons, the role later expanding to competition manager.

Over that time he was heavily involved in the establishment of the Central North website, collecting and collating historical information, the move to online systems for both player registration and scoring, and the promotion of the zone through social media.

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