I'm not surprised; in fact it's kind of expected with any progressive or revolutionary idea that seems to be far fetched or unobtainable.

It's the plight of the little man trying to keep the competition where he can reach them low and immobile.

Imagine the artsy kid on the playground, or the geek in thick-rimmed glasses with his face in a book.

He might be different and maybe he sits alone at lunch, but what are the chances he'll be more amazing than his bullies when he grows up?

That's Thunder at this very moment.

For all of its hard work, sacrifice, forward-thinking and inspiration, Thunder are the Group Nine outsider none of the other clubs want to play with.

But here's a marvellous twist.

Humour me if you will, but fielding a team in the NSW Cup could be just the thing to give rugby league the breath of life it's so desperately gasping for in the Riverina.

For years we have been forced to watch our great game trickle away piece by piece in this booming area.

The first sign of trouble was in 1991 when the struggling Group 13 competition was canned by the CRL.

By then there was only a handful of teams left, including Albury's twin rival clubs the Blues and Roos.

Blues joined the Group Nine competition the following year along with fellow Group 13 drop-outs Tumbarumba and Adelong-Batlow.

What was once a thriving rugby league heartland had started to disintegrate and no one knew the answer.

The Bears lasted until the late '90s, just before former Group Nine giant Harden-Murrumburrah dropped away in 2002.

Two years later the Wagga Leagues Club went bust, and Turvey Park and Magpies merged to form Southcity.

Let's face the facts there hasn't been much to get excited about around here if you're a rugby league diehard.

If you think about it, Thunder's NSW Cup bid is biggest hope we have of salvaging what's left of this incredible competition.

Think about the comparative scenarios.

In five years' time we could have another merger on our hands, or heaven forbid, a 10-team competition.

On the other hand, we can accept Thunder's revolutionary idea as the greatest and most enlightened concept that's come out of this region for more than 20 years.

Thunder's beloved waterboy and big-time dreamer Mike Eden can foresee the future.

He painted quite the picture as he described his vision for Group Nine over the phone for me yesterday.

Imagine in a year's time, Thunder is a feeder club for Melbourne Storm.

They have the money, the players, the longevity and nationwide exposure.

All of a sudden we have rugby league wannabes from all across the country vying to join Group Nine just to get a sniff of the action.

The talented junior players from Junee, Gundagai and Tumbarumba will have something to work towards, a pathway to a higher level of coaching and a real glimpse of an NRL dream from their own backyard.

All of a sudden Wagga Rugby League wants a cut, considering the calibre of talent we have right here in the heart of the Riverina.

Players from once thriving rugby league towns like Harden and Adelong don't have to move away to a boarding school in the city to pursue a career.

You'd have former players that have left Group Nine for greener pastures scrambling to make it back.

Before you know it, a perfectly situated club with excellent connections with Wagga like Canberra Raiders has jumped on board and Bob's your uncle.

We will have replenished what was lost and the Riverina is once again the rugby league hub of the bush.

We have what it takes, and its about time we all believed it.

In five years time we could be languishing what could have been, or making slow and steady headway back to our prime.

What we need, though, is a unified front all Group Nine clubs embracing the bigger picture and accepting Thunder as a positive model for rugby league's future.

It's really all we have.