Central West Rugby Union chief executive Matt Tink is hopeful finals can go ahead this year but admits he has little idea what they, or any other community sporting match, would look like should there be a green light.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Further doubt was cast over finals matches in major sporting competitions in the area when it was announced on Thursday the lockdown in regional NSW would be extended.
All of regional NSW has been put into lockdown until at least 12.01am on Saturday, August 28, in line with the current restrictions in Greater Sydney.
Tink spent much of Thursday on the phone to clubs around the region, gauging their reaction to the news.
A number of Central West competitions - headlined by the premier Blowes Clothing Cup - were scheduled to have their grand finals played on August 28.
READ ALSO:
Theoretically, it could be one-versus-two in matches on that day but that won't be the case as Tink won't see teams take to the field without training sessions under their belt.
"If we stick with our original plan of grand finals on August 28, our guys would not have done any contact training for three weeks," he said.
"They would need to do at least a week, minimum, of training and we're very conscious of that."
The other big issue is what a grand final day in COVID times would be like.
There has not yet been any update on what community sport may look like post-lockdown and if any ongoing restrictions, a cap on crowd numbers for example, would be introduced.
"You go back to last year and you were only allowed 500 people at a ground and that includes the players, match officials, and people who cook the barbecue," Tink said.
"We have not been given any indication of what community sport would look like if and when we come out of lockdown.
"Do we play grand finals with no crowds? There's far too unknowns here at the moment."
While conversations with clubs in the coming days will decide a course of action for the end of the season, one thing Tink is certain of is everyone in his region will be in the same boat.
We don't talk just first grade in Central West, we talk about all our competitions.
- Matt Tink
Teams from towns like Orange and Cowra may not be in locations where there are currently active COVID cases, but that doesn't mean they will get preferential treatment over those from centres where there are more cases.
Dubbo remains the biggest area of concern in Western NSW and the city had 21 new cases announced on Thursday morning.
As it stands, the Dubbo Kangaroos had sides finish in the top two in the Blowes Clothing Cup second and third grade competition, as well as the Westfund Ferguson Cup, while the Dubbo Rhinos finished second in colts and had already booked a spot in the New Holland Agriculture Cup second grade grand final.
"We don't talk just first grade in Central West, we talk about all our competitions," Tink said.
"Central West Rugby is a community and with Dubbo's ongoing situation it makes it very difficult for us to speak with any authority on what the future looks like."
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News