The Group 11 board will consider extending the season by a week should the current lockdown in Dubbo and surrounding western areas stretch beyond a week.
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The relatively simple decision of cancelling the final round of play scheduled for this weekend was made on Wednesday and a board meeting is set down for Sunday night.
The aim of that meeting is to plan where the first set of semi-finals will be played the following weekend, but the discussion could change to season dates should the COVID cases in the region continue to climb.
The initial stay-at-home orders announced on Wednesday were for seven days but eight new local governments areas - including those which take in Narromine and Nyngan - were added to the lockdown that night and three new cases were confirmed in Dubbo on Thursday.
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Group 11 secretary Paul Loxley stated it was hard to plan at the moment given things can change day-to-day but said he would be in favour of extending the season and pushing the grand final date back one week from the scheduled date of Sunday, September 12 should it come to that.
"We've just got pray lockdown only goes for a week," Loxley said.
"We'll have a board meeting on Sunday night to talk about grounds and we'll see what happens between now and then.
"If, by then, it doesn't look like things are going to be better we'll have a chat and I would say the only option would be going a week longer, but we've got to wait and see.
"To be fair to everyone, that's what we would nearly have to do."
Loxley is currently in discussion with all Group 11 clubs to figure out ground availability in the region.
If the lockdown ends next week as planned, the first weekend of finals is expected to involve qualifying semi-finals at Wellington and elimination semi-finals at Dubbo.
The locations are determined by where clubs finish in first grade.
Minor premiers Dubbo CYMS will have the week off, second-placed Wellington will host Nyngan in the first grade qualifying semi, and Macquarie and Parkes will meet in the elimination match after finishing fourth and fifth respectively.
That is up for confirmation at Sunday's board meeting while ground availability for the following weeks will also be discussed.
One thing which remains certain at this stage is the grand final will be played at Apex Oval.
It will be the case regardless of whether a Dubbo side is in the first grade grand finals as the Group 11 by-laws state the region's premier facility hosts the biggest match of the season.
The final round matches originally scheduled for this weekend have all been declared 0-0 draws.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
