Club president Craig Norris said the club was surprised by the increase, and initially struggled to compensate for the extra numbers. 

“They jumped through the roof, that was the problem,” Norris said. 

“We certainly had a surge in both juniors and seniors, really. 

“[We had] 330 players last year, at last check it was 450-odd this year … the issue is, we were like, whoa, where are we getting all these uniforms from? And coaches, and all that comes with it.” 

The cause of the one-third increase in registrations, Norris said, was twofold. 

“I put it down to two things, really,” he said. 

“One is the Active Kids rebate from the NSW Government, that’s certainly helped a lot, allowing kids to play for virtually free.

“And the other one is the push on the all-girl’s competitions has certainly brought some numbers in for us.”

Historically speaking, the club has struggled to maintain the number of girls in the competition as they get older, and Norris explained why this might be.

“For the last few years, on average about a third of the regos are generally girls, but they seem to drift off because they’ve been forced to play in mixed competitions and all that,” he said. 

“The STFA [Southern Tablelands Football Association] ... have worked on having some more girls’ grades, and it’s paid dividends for us.

“We’ve got four Under 7s all-girls teams, three Under 9s, three Under 11s and two Under 15s, so it’s pretty exciting.”

Although they struggled to accommodate the extreme rise in numbers this season, Norris is confident the club can deal with a continued climb over the next few seasons, should it occur. 

“We have a policy that, at the Stags, there’s a home for everyone.

“So as long as people keep knocking on the door, we’ll find a home for them.

“We’ve got a good committee and we’ve got some great sponsors. Our sponsors share what we’re trying to do and they’re very happy to help us out where they can.”