Blayney has signalled its intention to return to the Group 10 finals in 2020, securing a signature the club believes is the biggest the Bears have made since Kerry Hemsley in the 1990s.
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The maroon and whites have landed former NRL prop Siosave Vave for next season, the 115 kilogram big-bopper playing last season in the Ron Massey Cup with St Mary's.
St Mary's will be taking part in this weekend's Ron Massey Cup grand final after defeating the Hills District Bulls to win 32-16.
They will take on the Wentworthville Magpies in the top-of-the-table decider - Mary's finished second and the Magpies first during the regular season - this weekend.
Vave, 30, has played 108 NRL games across four clubs, debuting with Cronulla in 2010 before stints at Melbourne, Manly and Parramatta.
Bears recruitment and retention chair Adam Hornby said adding size was crucial as Blayney's premier league side looks to bounce back from a winless 2019.
And he's confident Vave will add that, and then some.
For a small club like us to land someone with over 100 NRL games is huge, it's going back to the Kerry Hemsley and Geoff Blinkhorn days.
- Blayney Bears' recruitment and retention chair Adam Hornby
"He'll be our big halfback," Hornby laughed.
"He's got plenty of experience and size, which is something we've lacked. With the amount of good young players we have at the club we think Siosave can help lead us around the park."
Vave was trotted out by the club at the Bears' presentation on Friday night and Hornby says the addition of an ex-NRL player will generate a bit of buzz around the town.
"He'll be there and the kids will be jumping out of their skin," Hornby said.
"For a small club like us to land someone with over 100 NRL games is huge, it's going back to the Kerry Hemsley and Geoff Blinkhorn days (in the 1990s).
"We want to be competitive and getting a guy like Siosave is going to help there."
Hornby revealed the club was in discussions with a number of other players from across Group 10 too, and said he was hopeful Vave's signature will generate a domino effect of sorts.
"They might look at what we've done and then come across," he added.
"It can only be positive."
2019 was another difficult year for Blayney, with the aforementioned winless season the second time it has managed such a feat in the last three years.
The last time Blayney won a premiership was in 1998, when they defeated the Lithgow Workies 29-18.
This year was more positive on other fronts though, with the Bears' League Tag side making a finals appearance, while the under 18s fell just short, finishing the year in sixth place.
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Nick McGrath
Editor, Central Western Daily
Editor, Central Western Daily
