Winter is coming and thus the prime of Whanganui's sporting youth will take to fields and courts around the district today for the start of the various junior competitions in football, netball and rugby union.
Perhaps the most encouraging action will be found at the Kaierau Country Club this morning about 9.40am.
For the first time in a couple of years, a purely WRFU-affiliated secondary schools' open grade will kick off at Kaierau for an eight-team, 15-week competition.
The chickens came home to roost back in May 2014 when it was revealed that even our remaining under-15 squads had packed their bags to go join the Manawatu union competitions - taking the number of local school squads playing "out of town" to a whopping 16 teams.
Like moths to the flame, that Manawatu youth rugby grade drew about 74 schoolboy sides, 42 per cent of which were from outside the province.
"Not only does amalgamation bring considerable added travel costs and expenses for local teams, but it means a much smaller voice in their sport's governing boardroom when it comes to discussions of itineraries, allocation of resources, and preferential treatment," I said at the time.
"Smaller fish in bigger ponds are hardly made priority."
So I had to grin when WRFU development officer Justin Lock gave me a ring from the car yesterday to make sure the "old brigade" of Whanganui rugby and I knew the schoolboys were coming home.
Admittedly, even under the Manawatu regime, the Whanganui schools were still playing on their own fields and against each other, on every other weekend, with locally appointed referees taking up the whistle.
But jingoism is all about the banner which is waving overhead and its symbol of ownership and identity - witness the passions that flared up in the last 18 months over whether a Union Jack or Silver Fern was more appropriate for the corner of our nation's flag.
It is a massive goodwill coup for WRFU chief executive Bridget Belsham and her small team to show the white-haired brigade they still have control over the cradle of the game here and a firm stake in the development of our home-grown produce.
The blue, white, and black flag, rather than a green one, will be flying over Kaierau.
To be fair, this is a development-level conference for our local colleges rather than the glamorous first XVs.
Powerhouses Wanganui High School and Collegiate - whose sport department heads began the Manawatu migration at the start of the decade - are entering their second and third squads, along with a WHS under-16 side.
But the best news is by coming home, WHS and Collegiate have created a scenario where the smaller schools who felt abandoned and forced to undertake the expensive trek to Palmerston North once again have the better option for their limited resources.
Emotions were high when City College's head of rugby Aaron Chadwick rang me in 2014 and swore he had no choice but to take his kids to Manawatu - he was right behind the WRFU and desperately wanted a genuine Whanganui competition.
City College are true to their word - they're back.
Although the school's glory days of the mid-2000s are gone - remember no fewer than six old boys played at the 2015 World Cup - they can still keep the game alive in-house by having an affordable option for playing matches.
Jason White had just become Ruapehu College's deputy principal in 2014 and was ropeable when his attempts to resurrect an under-16 team with an eye to building a first XV in two years would come to naught without a grade to play in.
A 70-minute drive for games is a lot easier than 130 minutes and Ruapehu will be there today.
Cullinane College was also a late holdout for Manawatu in 2014 and their school is still a viable rugby nursery - recent Cullinane graduate Brett Cameron is furthering his career in Canterbury and trialled for this season's New Zealand under-20s.
Most of all, old-school local rivalries can continue to manifest themselves in a positive fashion in a viable competition where they will be celebrated rather than an afterthought.
Come along to watch this morning to see around 132 young men throw themselves into the fray on the first step to becoming the 2016 Whanganui Secondary School Rugby champions.