All senior AFL Central West round one games will be played in Bathurst

Finally revealed just weeks out from the beginning of the season, the draw will feature all senior football being played in Bathurst come round one.

It will be a battle of Bathurst Bushrangers and Dubbo Demons at George Park 2, while on George Park 1 the Bathurst Giants host the Orange Tigers.

It will make for a mega April 29.

But it's not the only big story, with the draw confirming the return of Cowra to the women's competition. The Blues have entered a team for the first time since 2020.

AFL Central West competition and development coordinator Casey White believes the Blues' return to the grade is going to do wonders for the club as a whole.

"I think that's the real key out of this year's competition," he said.

"To have the return of Cowra in women's footy, especially with Mulyan Oval being renamed Geoff Day Oval.

"The club can now have a full match day. The team and the transfers coming through are making it look like they will have a pretty side on paper for both of their grades.

"They could be tough to beat which is great for the competition, a strong Cowra generally means a strong AFL Central West."

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Cowra will also field a tier two men's team, with the club beginning to return to normal after a tough few years.

"Hopefully it shows there is a bit of light at the end of the tunnel after a few years of COVID and wet weather impacts," White said.

"At a senior level, clubs are starting to get back to normal and starting to build out the competition.

"If we can have a competitive year across the board, it's what the players want."

With the women's premiership now a five-team competition, one side will have the bye each week.

However, the Bathurst Giants won't have to wait too long to for a highly anticipated grand final rematch against the Dubbo Demons.

The Giants, the reigning premiers, will head to Dubbo for round two.

In the tier two competition, Bathurst Bushrangers have decided to just enter one team after nominating a pair of sides in the past, something White believes became a tough task at times in 2022.

"It became a competitive balance issue as well because they had another side which was more likely to finish at the bottom of the ladder," he said.

"If we can get six strong teams, that's going to be better. Especially with the Bushrangers, they were having to run around to find extra players this week but now they can don't have to worry about it.

"It's the right decision I think, that also means there are now byes in the tier two competition which gives everyone more footy."

The tier one men's competition will once again feature just the four teams, but there is hope from White that this could be one of the closest seasons in recent memory.

"We are seeing the transfers rolling in and some players from handy leagues are coming to the competition," he said.

"It's going to be exciting to watch once round one rolls around, I think it's going to be a pretty competitive division.

"I understand that there are some challenges around it only being a four-team competition but those four teams are going to give it a pretty red-hot crack.

"Hopefully we can have the finals hosting rights come down to the last couple of rounds."

Other key fixtures in the draw will be Sir Doug Nicholls round which will take place across rounds four and five with two clubs already locked in to wear specially designed jerseys.

The season will begin on April 29.

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