With North Tamworth having put out feelers to play elsewhere this year after the cancellation of the Group 4 season, an offer has come from left field: join the New England Rugby Union competition.
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That is what NERU vice-president Mitch Hanlon would love to see.
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And what's more, Hanlon - the Tamworth Magpies president, who has a rugby league background - believes that the reigning six-time premiers would be a force.
Norths - who again won the Clayton Cup last season, for having the best record in NSW country rugby league - have played in the Tamworth Magpies-hosted Summer 7s and, according to Hanlon, "carved up" the rugby sides.
The NERU finalised its draw on Friday night, with a six-round season to feature new entries Glen Innes and Walcha, the latter switching from the abandoned Central North Rugby Union competition.
Norths joining the NERU, Hanlon said, would make it an eight-team competition - meaning the current bye each round would be eliminated.
Hanlon said it would be "interesting" if the Bears joined the NERU, although he admitted that merely raising the subject might be considered "heresy" in some quarters. (The NSW Rugby League was formed in 1907 after a schism occurred in rugby union, leading to legendary longstanding bad blood between the codes.)
He said: "There is a bye there, it's not too late [for Norths to join the NERU] ... I come from a league background: I don't care [if they join]."
He added: "They're a great club ... They're gonna have to make a decision this week [if they want to play in the NERU]."
Hanlon believes that Norths would "easily" handle the move to rugby, despite the complexity of rugby's forwards play in particular.
He said Norths would play a "hot potato" form of attacking rugby that would be lethal. Similar to how Walcha played: "that nice running rugby; not that bloody dour stuff that Super Rugby's playing," he said.
Bears president Jodie Cooper was taken aback by the proposal. "Mate, we're a rugby league club," he said.
Cooper said the proposal came with "a lot of variables", including: "How would it sit with NSW Rugby League if the whole club goes and starts playing rugby union?"
"I'd rather explore other options at this stage," he added.
Cooper has asked NSWRL regional area manager Scott Bone to explore the possibility of Norths joining another rugby league comp this year.
He said: "They're different games, just too different. The technicalities of rugby union, for a start. They'd [Norths] probably cop a bit of a hammering."