Comboyne Tigers rejoin Hastings League seven days after a lack of players forced their withdrawal

But no more than seven days was all that stood between Comboyne Tigers and Hastings League extinction and competing in the 2022 season.

They had inadequate numbers to field a side until former player Shawn Madley rallied the troops and then picked up the phone to tell president Michael Schiffman the good news.

"They've been pretty hard times for the town recently, but it would have been a nail in the coffin especially for the Comboyne club with no functions and no footy on a Saturday," Schiffman said.

"It gives everyone a social event - particularly a lot of the older ones that don't get off the mountain.

"They come to the footy, they catch up with people they haven't seen and without the Tigers playing this year there would have been a lot of dull moments coming on top of the hill."

Sitting on the sidelines isn't a new phenomenon out on the plateau - they've been down that path once already in the early 2000s.

It took them four seasons to return to their halcyon days and Schiffman felt it would have been almost impossible for the club to bounce back again.

"In this current climate people have got a lot more on now and sport is the least of a lot of people's worries which is unfortunate," he said.

"If we didn't field a side my biggest worry was I didn't think we'd come back. When Shawn rang up and said 'are we right to come back' I said 'if we get the numbers I'd rather be playing than not playing'."

Madley's influence should not be understated.

He hasn't played for the club since 2017 and now calls Beechwood home which highlighted to the Tigers president what storied history the club has.

"For him to take ownership and save the club means a lot ... it's a pretty big effort," Schiffman said.

"For the older generation like Kay White who has been involved with the club for 30-plus years ... she lives and breathes footy.

"To hear the excitement in her voice when I rang her up and said we'd be back is what we all play footy for."

When the Hastings League kicks off at the end of this month, the Tiger Army will again be out in force.

"The club and the town need the footy club to give them an outlet on a Saturday afternoon," the president said.

"Our supporters travel all around; we don't just stay at Comboyne, we go to places like South West Rocks for the weekend so it flows onto other towns too."

And while most presidents would be content just to have their side back in the competition, Comboyne's is a little different.

Why not dare to dream of an unlikely premiership success?

"We can only hope. We'll shock a few sides and we've just got to get a bit of fitness in us and we'll be right."

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