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Mid West Cup
Sport	Rugby league
Instituted	1913
Inaugural season	1913
Ceased	2021
Re-formed	2022
Country	Australia
Most recent premier	Blackheath Blackcats (2023)
Most titles	Carcoar Crows (13 titles)
Website	Group 10 Homepage

The Mid West Community Cup is a rugby league competition in the Central West area of New South Wales. The premiers are awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest continuously awarded trophy in Country Rugby League, with Neville the first recipients in 1913.^[1] For all intents and purposes, it is a third division competition in the Group 10/11 area.

In its last season under its original model in 2021, the competition encompassed teams from Bathurst, Kandos, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and Portland.^[2] Some of the remaining clubs in the competition merged into the Woodbridge Cup in 2022 after two incomplete seasons due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the competition reformed in late 2022 under a new community cup model similar to Group 17. The three clubs that emerged from the ailing original format of the competition to join the Woodbridge Cup did not rejoin the competition as they sought a higher standard of football, paving the way for the return of other older clubs.

Current Clubs

Three clubs are currently listed as part of the Mid West Community Cup competition. The inaugural edition of the competition ran as a four-team single round-robin with finals to follow, with a total four week season in 2022 and in 2023. The competition expanded to seven teams for 2024.

Club	City/Town	Home Ground	No. of Titles	Premierships
Blackheath Blackcats	Blackheath	Jubilee Park	10	1980, 1986, 1989, 1990, 1992, 1993, 2002, 2005, 2015, 2018, 2023
Carcoar Crows	Carcoar	Carcoar Oval	13	1931, 1949, 1950, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1969, 1971, 1973, 1982, 1985, 1988, 1994, 2022
Kandos Waratahs	Kandos	Waratah Park	7	1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013
Portland Colts	Portland	Kremer Park	3	1984, 1998, 2008
Rockley Bulls	Rockley	Rockley Sports Ground	1	1956
Wallerawang Warriors	Wallerawang	Wallerawang Oval	6	1976, 1977, 1991, 2000, 2001, 2017
Woodstock Panthers	Woodstock	Woodstock Showground	1	1983

Former Clubs

2021 Season Teams

Seven teams will compete in the 2024 season including former Group 10 side Oberon Tigers, with the women's grade having six teams (Kandos being the extra). The teams were:

Club	City/Town	Home Ground	No. of Titles	Premierships	Notes
CSU Mungoes	Bathurst	Diggings Oval	5	1975, 2012, 2014, 2019, 2021	Joined Woodbridge Cup
Kandos Waratahs‡	Kandos	Waratah Park	7	1972, 1974, 1978, 1979, 1981, 2009, 2013	Competed in League Tag only, joined new Community Cup
Lithgow Bears	Lithgow	Tony Luchetti Showground	2	2010, 2011	Disbanded
Oberon Tigers	Oberon	Oberon Sports Ground	2	2003, 2020	Joined Woodbridge Cup
Portland Colts‡	Portland	Kremer Park	3	1984, 1998, 2008	Joined new Community Cup
Orange United Warriors	Orange	Wade Park	0	N/A	Joined Woodbridge Cup

‡ indicates active participant in the Mid West Community Cup

Former Teams (1913–2022)

More than 40 teams have reportedly featured in the Mid West Cup over the course of its history.^[3] They include:

Club	No. of Premierships	Premiership Years	Moved to
Barry	1	1932	Amalgamated with Neville
Barry-Neville	2	1952, 1953	Disbanded
Binnaway Bombshells	0	NA	Castlereagh Cup
Burrangong Bears	0	None	Disbanded
Blayney Bears	3	1922, 1970, 2006	Group 10 Rugby League
Blayney Blues	1	1923	Disbanded
Blayney Institute	1	1948	Disbanded
Blayney Militia	2	1924, 1925	Disbanded
Blayney Waratahs	2	1926	Disbanded
Browns Creek	2	1927, 1928	Disbanded
Canobolas	0	NA	Disbanded
Coolah Kangaroos	0	NA	Group 14 Rugby League
Cullen Bullen	0	NA	Disbanded
Dunedoo Swans	0	NA	Castlereagh Cup
Gulgong Terriers	5	1987, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2007	Castlereagh Cup
Mandurama	1	1918	NA
Manildra Rhinos	0	NA	Woodbridge Cup
Merriwa Magpies	0	NA	Group 14 Rugby League
Mitchell College	1	1975	Disbanded
Mudgee Tigers	1	1996	Disbanded
Millthorpe	1	1951	Disbanded
Neville	1	1913	Amalgamated with Barry
Newbridge	1	1914	Disbanded
Orange Barbarians	0	NA	Disbanded
Orange Old Boys/Our Boys	0	NA	Disbanded
Villages United	1	2015	Disbanded

History

The Mid West Cup was originally organised as a rugby union competition but made the switch to rugby league after the First World War. The first winner of the competition was Neville and the club awarded the Blayney Citizens' Cup, the oldest trophy still in regular use in Country Rugby League.^[4]

While the competition was traditionally based in around the Blayney region, in the 1950s it expanded into Rockley, Carcoar and Cullen Bullen before it was absorbed in the Group 10 Rugby League and renamed the Group 10 Second Division in 1970. It adopted its current name of the Mid West Cup in 1990. The competition only featured four teams in 2019, including CSU Mungoes, Lithgow Bears, Orange Barbarians and Portland Colts, but expanded to eight in 2020 with the inclusion of the reformed Blackheath Blackcats and Kandos Waratahs, Oberon Tigers (who have been relegated from Group 10) and the newly-formed Orange United.

The competition's last season under its original model was in 2021, and encompassed teams from Bathurst, Kandos, Lithgow, Oberon, Orange and Portland. The three remaining clubs in the competition (CSU, Oberon and Orange United) merged into the Woodbridge Cup in 2022 after two incomplete seasons due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. However, the competition reformed in late 2022 under a new community cup model similar to Group 17. The three clubs that emerged from the ailing original format of the competition to join the Woodbridge Cup did not rejoin the competition as they sought a higher standard of football, paving the way for the return of other older clubs such as Carcoar, as well as the introduction of Burrangong for the first time. Burrangong returned to the George Tooke Shield for 2023, with Blackheath rejoining the competition in their place.