Hallelujah... there's footy back in Blayney, and in a big way.
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The Bears are sill buzzing after making their official return to the Group 10 ranks this winter as Lochie Hobby's men put together a dominant campaign in the reserve-grade competition, securing the minor premiership before the league was abandoned.
"It was so exciting to be back on the field with the Bears again," back rower Ryley Oborn said.
"It felt like we wouldn't field a side at all. We had 10 players in the pre-season, but with about three weeks before kick-off, we got some boys to ask around and thank god they did."
Finishing in first position was extremely pleasing for Oborn, but it made the end of the season somewhat anticlimactic.
"It sucks it had to end the way it did... it would have been good to play some finals footy," he said.
"I'm still really proud of the boys after the year we had."
They say defence wins championships, and that was the aspect of play where Oborn felt his troops were the strongest.
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"It felt like we were defending our line for 20 minutes at some point," he said.
"That was in part because we kept making silly mistakes.
"I think all of us being mates out on the field made us really want to be there for each other and I think our defence showed that.
"Scoring points wasn't our biggest issue. We had a fair amount of talent there. It was just difficult for us to hang onto the ball at times."
The footy season might be over for 2021, but silly season is right around the corner.
"I loved playing alongside Loch (Lochie Hobby) this year," he said. "Now, we can look forward to mad Monday where the real fun happens."
After a tumultuous couple of seasons, Blayney's rugby league program appears to have resurrected itself, and will soon look towards 2022 as the hunt begins for a new top-grade coach.