The long awaited return of the region's junior rugby league competition could be closer than thought, with a recent meeting between clubs and the board paving the way for play to begin in mid July.
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Dubbo and District Junior Rugby League boss Bernard Wilson says final plans and confirmation will have to wait until more information is made clear by the state government and the New South Wales Rugby League governing body, however.
"We really do want to get our kids back out there and playing footy," Wilson said.
"But as you'd imagine, there's a lot of logistics involved, we're still waiting for more information from NSWRL on exactly how the crowd situation will be handled."
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Crowds will be an important point for all rugby league competitions this year, but none moreso than the junior tournament, which frequently draws large groups of onlookers come grand final day.
"There'll definitely be change and there'll definitely be sacrifices made by all the clubs and parents and everyone involved, at the end of the day, we just want the kids back out there outside and playing a bit of sport," Wilson said.
"We are lucky that we have got a fair bot of space at Apex Oval and we can spread people out very well, we're really just needing to wait and get confirmation on exactly how to go about it best."
Wilson said that while times have no doubt been tough for the various clubs, there was now a light at the end of the tunnel that all involved we're looking forward to getting to.
"The meeting we had the other night was super positive with all the clubs, everyone's keen to get the kids back on the field and everyone understands it definitely won't be the same," Wilson said.
"Everyone's had challenges, we'll have challenges, once it's up and running and everyone adjusts it'll be fine."
"Everyone's going to have to make sacrifices, from the kids all the way up, we just want to stay positive."
Wilson said that July 18 was the latest proposed kick-off date and that the changes to the competition's structure would likely limit them to fewer rounds and games.
"We're looking to kick off on the 18th of July and run a nine round competition with one semi-final and a grand final after a two week semi-series," Wilson said.
"We want to get them back on the field, we're pushing for kids to contact their clubs and the clubs are starting to get information out to them about getting registered."
Given the various junior rugby league clubs status as feeder clubs for the region's senior competition, any further delays or a cancelled season would likely hold a big impact on the development of players in the region.
"I think you don't want kids to miss a year of sport ever, any sport, whether it's any sport they play," Wilson said.
"It's not about a competition or what the structural makeup is, we just want to be playing a bit of sport."