For many years, the Blayney Bears rugby league club gave a small country town reason to be proud. In the Group 10 competition, playing against teams from far larger regional centres such as Bathurst, Orange and Lithgow, the Bears won five premierships, in 1977, 1990, 1993, 1996 and 1998. They lost another grand final in 1999, when former Balmain, NSW and Kangaroos enforcer Paul Sironen was their star import. They were halcyon days in Blayney’s three pubs, but over time, the realities of modern life in the central-west township with a population of around 3000 have taken a toll. The Bears slipped out of the Group 10 competition several years ago and had been playing in the lower-tier Woodbridge Cup. But after five games this season, they were forced to withdraw, citing injuries and a lack of numbers.