It might not have the same atmosphere as past editions as Bathurst aims for its fourth consecutive victory, but at least it means the 98^th edition of the Astley Cup is going ahead.

That was the ultimate goal for all three schools.

"The reason we wanted it to run is that it's the 80th year since it was last cancelled, which was during the war in 1940," Bathurst High School principal Ken Barwick said earlier this year.

The live streaming set up is also being done with a view to the cup's 2022's centenary event.

"In the 100th year we're looking to do a documentary where a media outlet follows the journey of each school during the event," Barwick said.

"We're really committed to making that a huge public event, something the public can get involved in. It would be great to bring everyone back together who had competed in a past Astley Cup."

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Bathurst High has been busy hosting trials for its teams and is hopeful of claiming its 28^th title overall. If it wins this year, it will be the first school to win four consecutive cups since Orange High's remarkable run of success from 1990 to 2001.

Orange High School's Astley Cup coordinator Tegan Dray said plenty of planning has gone into making sure the three schools adhere to COVID-19 safety measures and is excited to see what sort of response the live stream receives.

"We tried this last year and it was very successful," Dray said. "It's going to be really great to be able to offer that so the community will be able to watch."

"There's excitement there but a lot of planning has been around how we can make it happen safely for all our participants.

"We're always monitoring the health advice we receive."

At this stage it is planned for the Dubbo versus Orange tie to start the competition on Thursday August 27.

Bathurst gets their first taste of the cup the following week on September 2 when hosting Dubbo.