Byrnes was elected to replace Peter Burke as president at Sunday’s annual general meeting and is keen to get out there and engage with the clubs.

“I’ve undertaken to trip around all the clubs and meet with all the committees,” Byrnes said.

A member of the history-making 1985 Pirates side, Byrnes also played with Barraba, and has maintained an active interest in the competition since he hung up the boots.

This year he helped out with the website and, keen to see that continue, “started showing my head at meetings”.

“One thing led to another and I found myself doing a nomination form for the position of president,” he said.

Describing himself as someone who likes to be fairly inclusive, Byrnes will be taking that approach to the job.

“We’re looking for initiatives and opportunities to really boost rugby,” he said.

One of the objectives he touched on was “building on the image and popularity of rugby in the zone”.

Another big focus will be on how they can help the smaller clubs.

That was one of the reasons the two-tier system was brought in for this year.

It did attract some backlash  but will remain in place next season, though  with  a few modifications to appease some of the clubs’ concerns.

The most notable is the shortening of the season.

Rather than playing each other twice in the second round, they’ll only play each other once.

That should reduce the toll on the players’ bodies, which was a major issue for the top tier clubs especially.

The finals series has also been tweaked, again to try to  address issues the clubs raised.

Notably the Tier 1 and Tier 2 grand finals will be played on separate days, which will mean the team that wins the Tier 2 major semi will have the opportunity to host a grand final.

Scone missed out on that this year.

Under the changes, the fifth-finishing side in the top tier will also drop down and play in the Tier 2 finals.

There was some talk too about changing the colts’ divisions to U17s and U20s but that was quashed.

“We decided to leave it as is,” Byrnes said.

The only change they did make was moving the grand finals back to the same day as the Tier 1 grand finals.

The early indications are that more clubs should be capable of fielding teams.

“Some of the clubs that didn’t have 16s or 18s this year have indicated they might have one or the other,” Byrnes said.

All that will become clearer at the February meeting when the clubs nominate.

That’s when the draw will also be ratified.

It is still to be worked out.