Wagga hosting Junior State Cup southern conference a smash hit

Wagga played host to the inaugural southern conference finals over the weekend and there was plenty of positive feedback from everyone at Jubilee Oval.

Wagga Touch Association president Darrin Walsh was thrilled by how the three-day carnival unfolded.

"It went really, really well and there was not one issue," Walsh said.

"All the affiliates, especially the Sydney teams, commented on how it was way better than Port Macquarie.

"They were skeptical at first but are more than happy to come back again."

Traditionally there has just been the one main event in Port Macquarie but now the state has been split into two conferences with the best of the best to meet in Wollongong in late April for the finals.

Walsh thought the change of format provided more opportunities for the city's young talent to expose themselves to a higher standard.

For the first time under 8s were involved, although they will not progress to the next stage, plus five development teams took part across the under 10 to under 14 age ranges.

"The exposure the development teams got was invaluable for them," Walsh said.

The under 18s girls led the way with their win with only the under 12s boys failing to progress to the next stage.

It is the first of three years the event will be held in Wagga.

With thousands of players and spectators descending on the city road blocks were established around the Jubilee precinct.

It seemed to suit those involved.

"There was no negative feedback from anyone on the traffic," Walsh said.

"It ran rally smoothly with access and parking.

"It was great."

Walsh was blown away by the event and thanked Wagga City Council, NSW Touch and all parents and children for their help.

With over 900 games players and 10,000 people involved NSW Touch general manager Dean Russell thought the shift to Wagga was a massive success.

"It was very successful from our perspective," Russell said.

"We knew taking an event of that size into a new location would come with some challenges but surprisingly those challenges were minor and we are really pleased with the event."

Russell said the feedback from all involved was outstanding with no big kinks to iron out ahead of next year's event.

He was also thrilled to have associations like Griffith, Temora and Young re-engaged with the State Cup and for Coolamon to send their first ever side.

It has been one of the big benefits from the split with travel times and costs significantly decreasing.

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