It's been nearly three years since Collegians lifted the men's premiership trophy and local fans will have to endure another brief false start with the Illawarra League season kickoff pushed back a week.
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The 2022 season officially launched on Monday was set to begin on April 23, but has been pushed back a week as grounds recover from the wet weather that's wreaked havoc on all Illawarra sport.
"We've already seen the impact on our juniors. They were meant to start in early April and they've now been deferred to the end of this month," IDRL manager Nigel Roy told the Mercury.
"Ground availability is an ongoing issue in this current climate."
However, the Illawarra League is set to return with a bang when the season gets underway on April 30.
Eight teams will vie for this year's men's first grade premiership for the first time since 2013, with shire clubs De La Salle Caringbah and Cronulla Caringbah moving south to join Illawarra sides Collegians, Wests, Thirroul, Corrimal, Dapto and Helensburgh.
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The move greatly strengthens the first-grade competition as the IDRL looks to crown its first premier since Collegians claimed the 2019 title.
Collies sat out 2020 in the absence of an Illawarra first grade, while the league was reduced to five teams after the Tigers opted out last year. However, the competition was abandoned last June due to the NSW government's imposed lockdown measures.
But the IDRL hopes for more luck in 2022 despite week one being pushed back, with scheduled round-one fixtures deferred to May 14.
It will now see newcomers De La Salle face a stern test in its maiden Illawarra League outing against still-defending premiers Collegians, while Helensburgh will now make their return in a fitting northern derby against Thirroul.
West and Dapto will resume their old rivalry, while Corrimal will host Cronulla Caringbah.
"Those two [Shire] clubs are strong and have been competitive in their local districts, but they want to test the waters in what we believe is a much stronger competition here in the Illawarra," Roy said.
"We've seen the return of Helensburgh Tigers as well which, after a challenging 2020 and 2021 through the COVID years, sees us return to an eight-team comp."
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Planning is also underway for the IDRL's ladies open league tag competition. Interest has been strong in the local area with nine teams set to play this year.
Meanwhile, Corrimal and the Stingrays of Shellharbour will play in the Macarthur open age women's competition, which is also set to begin next weekend.
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Joshua Bartlett
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
A sporting fanatic who is keen to promote all codes in the Illawarra and abroad. Mercury's chief football reporter.
