NSW rugby officialdom was last night expected to return power to the people with a vote on who runs the Shute Shield next season and beyond.

The NSW Rugby meeting was tipped to give back control of the tournament to the presidents of Sydney's 12 rugby union clubs after a series of disagreements with NSW Rugby chairman Jim L'Estrange. One issue was the axing of fourth grade teams from the points championship race.

L'Estrange said he would be happy to hand the decision-making back to the clubs.

"They want it, we want to give it to them," he said before last night's meeting. "We will continue to supply the funding and run the administration and judiciary. The clubs will be responsible for how the competition runs."

There has been opposition to his plans to spread talent more evenly across the competition by implementing a points system to rank players on experience and ability and to cap each team to the same number of points.

And stronger clubs do not like the idea of scrapping fourth-grade and third-grade Colts from the points championship even though other clubs have struggled to field sides. There have been a number of lopsided results in lower-grade matches in the past few seasons.

Penrith's general manager, John Pinson, confirmed before the meeting that his club would be rejecting the proposal to give power back to the clubs for fear that the western Sydney franchise could, eventually, be forced out of the competition.

It is known that some of the more powerful clubs are growing tired of sending their squads to Penrith and Southern Districts for a walk in the park against over-matched opponents.

In some instances, middle-aged club officials have had to take the field to make up the numbers required for a proper match.

But Pinson expressed frustration at the lack of money available for the game's development in his precinct.

"Let's try to spread the talent - those successful clubs will always be able to attract people," he said.

"NSW [Rugby] has to do more to spread the game - with the amount of people out here I think it would be worthwhile investing in schools and helping the juniors."

The consensus before last night's meeting, however, was that the proposal to hand control back to the clubs - which were in charge in the mid-1990s - had the majority support.