Dubbo College students will hit the road on Friday to take on Bathurst High School in the second day of their 2022 Astley Cup tie, which was postponed by more than a month.

Bathurst was originally set to host the second leg of the tie on June 30 but a teacher's strike forced the schools to find a new date to accommodate the remaining sports - basketball, netball, athletics and rugby league.

This Friday gives the schools the opportunity to play out the fixture that will decide who finishes runner-up in the competition.

READ ALSO:

- 'I'm a pretty casual footballer': Wallaroo Mason-Spice savouring time with Roolettes

- Tigers and Magpies riding wave of small town support towards historic premiership

- Family left with 'nowhere to go' after a year of fighting for a private motorbike track

Orange High School has already claimed this year's cup courtesy of their victories over Bathurst and Dubbo, making Friday's four sports a battle to avoid the wooden spoon.

Bathurst High School goes into the second day's play holding a 228-172 lead over Dubbo.

Both schools suffered narrow losses to Orange so there's plenty of motivation as they look to end things on a high this week.

"It'll be nice to wrap it up because it's great for the kids to have the chance to finish at home," Bathurst High Astley Cup co-coordinator Lachlan Blaikie said.

"Unfortunately we're not playing for any silverware but I think it'll still be really nice for them.

"Even though we can't win the cup the kids are still motivated to not be the team who finishes third. This turns into a bit of a rivalry now with Dubbo, where we're both keen to try and avoid being the team without a win."

The Astley Cup was forced into cancellation in 2020 due to COVID-19 but the effects of the virus in the competition still linger two years down the track.

The month-long delay may have given the schools the chance to finish off the cup, but it's also given the latest wave of COVID-19 more time to wreak some havoc on the team lineups.

"We've got basketball, netball, athletics and rugby league still to come," he said.

"I spoke to Dubbo the other day and they same to be having a lot of player number issues due to the resurgence of COVID. We've also lost a couple of kids early on this week, so who knows what it will look like towards the end of the week?

"We'll still get everything played. Hopefully we'll be able to get our strongest sides possible out there. It really feels like COVID has been going on forever now, and who would have thought that two years down the track it would be having an impact again today?

"Hopefully the weather will be kind to us. It's been a bit chilly early this week. At the end of the day the kids will have fun and they'll do their best.

"I feel like it'll be unpredictable as to what will happen, which tends to be the way with kids' sports."

No matter who lines up, Dubbo will go into Friday's competition with confidence knowing they have performed well in some of the sports already this year.

Basketball will start the day at 9.15am at the Bathurst Indoor Sports Stadium, with netball to follow at 10.45am.

Athletics will start from 12.45pm at Morse Park and rugby league rounds out the 2022 Astley Cup at 2pm on Carrington Park.

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: