The league won’t close the door on the Greens just yet but Tumbarumba president Larry Collins admits it’s difficult to see them making a comeback in 2019. 

“We’ve been talking to Group Nine pretty closely and (president) Jack Morton has been very supportive. They’ve said see what the numbers are and if we’ve got enough they’ll accept us back. But at this stage, I can’t see that happening,” Collins said. 

“You’ve still got to look for a coach and need a few quality players to fill the sides and be competitive. We’d have a good reserve grade side but we’d probably lack in experience in first grade. They (Group Nine) will definitely give us the open door if things turn around so we’ll see where we go with them there.”

Collins said the Greens have two pub teams – one from Tumbarumba and one from Batlow – accepted to play in Tumut’s nines competition which starts in February and runs for around six weeks.

“We did it to see what numbers we’d get and between Batlow and Tumba the numbers are looking good for the nines – we’ll have 40 registered (for the two teams). Perhaps we can get enough to go into Group Nine but they’re still not keen on playing in a stronger comp,” Collins said.

“We’ll see what happens.”

Collins is desperate to see rugby league remain a part of the mountains town but it’s hard to see them returning as a force.

“I’ve got footy in my blood. I hate seeing Tumba give up like this. From a strong rugby league town, and the history of rugby league here – it’s a sad thing,” Collins said. 

“We’ve only got a small committee, there’s about half-a-dozen of us that are still trying. But the support from the local fellas, they’ve had enough of getting flogged and you can understand their point.

“A lot of them are at the stage where they’ve only got a couple of years left playing and Group Nine’s just a bit too strong.”

The Greens will also meet with Murray Cup officials next month but the competition’s interest is lukewarm and would probably require Tumbarumba to give up home games to avoid other teams having to travel.

“I think they’re a bit worried. Tumba’s still got a lot of good quality players,” Collins said. 

“We’re sort of in between. We’re not quite strong enough to keep competing in Group Nine and maybe we’re too strong for these other comps. We’re the meat in the sandwich.”