Henwood Park was the only club to vote for Hanwood’s inclusion and FWW also rejected formal approaches from Griffith City and Yoogali last year.

FWW president Tony Dobbin said the ruling stemmed from the existing clubs’ desire to avoid messing with the current scheduling format, while also wishing to prioritise rebuilding clubs within its “traditional boundaries”.

But Hanwood thought it had alleviated both of those concerns when it offered to combine with Young in entering teams across both men’s and women’s grades.

While the Wagga competition is facing expansion and happy days ahead, the future is a little more bleak for Hanwood.

Monday’s Griffith and District Football Association general meeting revealed that next year’s men’s competition could feature as few as six teams, while the women’s competition may not continue at all.

Hanwood is expecting to lose a host of players if it’s forced to squeeze into the shrinking single-tier Griffith competition, and junior president Jason Valensisi believes the club’s future is hanging in the balance.

Valensisi said the verdict was especially disappointing after he met with Football Wagga officials three months ago and received “very positive” feedback on their impending application.

“We still have no idea why they don’t want us,” Valensisi said.

“We’re not sure if there’s a fear of our clubs being too strong, if it’s because of stuff between the Rhinos and Wanderers, or what’s going on.”

Hanwood president Anthony Agresta stressed that his club had no interest in disrupting the existing Wagga competition.

“We don't want to come in at the expense of anyone and we don't want any of the smaller clubs to fade away,” he said.

“We’re just trying to do the right thing by our club and give our players somewhere to play.”