The clubs have won the first round in their bid to get a voice on the board of the Otago Rugby Football Union.
But a special general meeting will have to be held for the clubs to get their way.
At the Otago Rugby Football Union annual meeting last night, there was a discussion over a representative from metropolitan clubs and a representative from the Otago Country board being on the ORFU board.
The clubs have been holding meetings over the past few months and there were concerns about several issues. These include finals days, player availability and season timing.
It was felt it was now time for the clubs and the country board to get representation back on the board.
Board chairman Keith Cooper, who is standing down from that role, said funders had to have confidence in the governance structure and that is what the board of eight members displayed. He questioned whether going back to club representation was the way to go and that was not favoured by New Zealand Rugby.
Four provinces in NZ were working towards the model of independent directors as set by Otago.
He said 10 directors was a lot and felt personally going to eight a few years ago was too many.
The clubs had enough numbers for the issue to go to a special general meeting next month when it would be voted upon. The date for the special general meeting was still being finalised.
A motion to change the way the board appointment panel was picked in the future was defeated. The motion was put so conflicts of interest could be avoided.
Board members Peter McCormack and Alex Turnbull were both re-elected to the board for another three-year term. Paul Allison and Bob Perriam were re-appointed to the board appointment panel.
