Southern Highlands Storm have been forced to withdraw from Group 7 First Grade due to a lack of player numbers but will still field a Regan Cup side headed by coach Trevor Schodel.
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The club announced on Thursday evening they would not be entering inaugural First and Reserve Grade sides as planned and would remain in Third Grade.
Club president Peter Howard said the club, founded in 2020, was still ahead of its five-year plan despite the setback.
"We couldn't quite get the numbers," he explained to the Register.
"The NSWRL have fully supported everything we've done and believe we're still in a fantastic position for a club in its infancy.
"They think we've done all the right things and we've got all the right structures in place, at the end of the day it's just numbers."
"When we formed the club we had a five year plan to get into first grade and this is our third year so we're trying to do it a bit quicker.
"Look it might take six years, it doesn't matter really, the key is our junior base and that is where our grade base will come from"."
Those junior numbers are a cause for much excitement at Loseby Park with Howard looking forward to seeing the Under 18 team take to the field for the first time in 2022.
"The really good news is our numbers in all junior grades have swelled, we've got over 250 kids this year," he said.
"We've got a very impressive group of under 18's and we haven't fielded one before so they're coming through."
Head coach and former Canberra Raider Trevor Schodel has also pledged his allegiance to the club after initially being signed on to coach First Grade.
Schodel said while the withdrawal was disappointing, he had chosen to stay to help the club build.
"It's disappointing from a club point of view but there's some bloody good under 18's coming through, that's the light at the end of the tunnel," he said.
"They asked last night if I wanted to stay on because I've never coached or played at third grade and I said, to be honest I can see that there are some bloody good kids here and the senior guys we have are good payers so I can't turn my back on the club and the players that have committed.
"We'll dig our heels in and do the best we can. We'll have an enjoyable year but at the same time, I want to bloody win the thing!"
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