In the words of Orange Emus legend Nigel Staniforth whose first grade side did just that in 2023 - having played eventual premiers Bathurst Bulldogs three times in the regular season and twice in the finals - it can be a "pretty hard slog".

The same scenario also played out in the Westfund Ferguson Cup in which the Dubbo Kangaroos women took out the season series against the Bulldogs 4-1, including a thrilling 15-10 grand final victory.

With so much repetition coupled by a low-stakes regular season where two-thirds of teams makes the finals, fans and players alike wouldn't be remiss for thinking a restructure was in order.

But what's the solution?

Speaking to those currently involved in the first grade competition, it's clear there is a desire for more teams to come into the fold.

"It's not rocket science, it is quite repetitive and I think everyone's aware of that," Staniforth said.

"I think everyone would like to see Blowes Cup have at least two more teams who can compete in the women's, ones and twos."

While adding more clubs would solve the repetition problem, the Emus first grade coach admitted it could lead to some lop-sided results.

"If you increase the pool, blowouts might happen when teams go through those cycles," he added.

Current Forbes Platypi assistant coach Andrew Hubbard has donned his club's colour on more than 400 occasions as a player.

He agreed the competition felt "monotonous" at times.

Hubbard thought the Mudgee Wombats - a club that in 2023 fielded New Holland Cup teams in first grade, second grade and colts as well as women in the Westfund North Cup - could be a viable option to boost Blowes numbers.

"Mudgee could be there now, to be honest, the way that they play," he said.

"I don't know for sure, but you hear whispers, and it's a distance problem and the travel. They'd be at risk of losing players in lower grades who don't want to travel three or four hours for a game of footy.

"You can understand it being hard for them but I remember in the early 2000s there were a ridiculous amount of teams in the top comp and they managed to do it."

The Blowes Cup is the premier tournament in Central West Rugby with the New Holland Cup a tier below those sides.

On top of the Wombats, Orange City Lions first grade captain Colin McGregor believed fellow New Holland side Parkes Boars could be a possibility to make the step up.

"Then maybe we could have some form of promotion and relegation, more up and down ... at the end of the day that might not have worked well for us, but we've done well to stick to our guns in Blowes Cup," he added.

"I think if there were a few more teams, if they were to come and play, it would make for a higher variety of rugby and make it a bit better.

"But you've just got to play the rugby you enjoy, with the people you enjoy playing it with."

Parkes have won the last three New Holland competitions and Mudgee have been runners-up in the last two seasons. Dubbo Rhinos finished fourth in the top two grades and did not field a women's team in 2023.

If the Blowes Cup were to increase the number of sides, Rhinos president Doug Sandry confirmed it was not in their plans.

"Not at all, we believe the competition that we have is a really close and well structured one," he said.

"Any team in our competition can beat anyone on their day, for us, we think we have a really strong competition.

"Whether or not other teams think that (who knows), within our club we think that the competition is really close."

However, the Rhinos president gave his thoughts on if teams could possibly step up.

"No I don't think so," he said.

"At the moment, the structure is pretty right and the six teams in the Blowes Cup should be there. Whether or not there is another team who could come up into the New Holland Cup that would be great.

"If the competition is the way it is then that is the way it is."

The New Holland Cup's five-team season will begin on April 27 and Sandry said if there were to be any changes to structures then he would like to see more than the 12 games they play each year.

"You set the season for the way it is," he said.

"Blowes Cup have six teams and we have five so it makes sense that they play more games then us."