EXCLUSIVE GUARDIAN REPORT
The uncertainty surrounding the current state wide Victorian lockdown has once again thrown both the Central Murray and Golden Rivers Football Netball League seasons into chaos.
With the forced abandonment of both last weekend and tomorrow’s round of games and with no return date in sight, there are many questions that are as yet unanswered.
The Central Rivers Board were scheduled to meet overnight to thrash out contingency plans to get both competitions resumed, with every option to be considered according to board Chairman John Keely.
“All options are on the table – our first priority is to get this original round nine fixture completed in the Central Murray and then if we are locked down for another month, we’ll be able to go straight to finals because then everyone’s played each other,” Keely said.
“It’s the same with the Golden Rivers except they’ve played each other once already, but hopefully we’ll be able to get some more games in because you don’t want to go into a finals series without having played for a month.”
Unfortunately, any iron clad decisions on the season will have to wait until at least next week, with no end date to the current Victorian lockdown the first major stumbling block facing the Central Rivers Board.
“We’ll sit down and come up with some scenarios tonight (Thursday evening), but we’re still going to have to wait and see what comes out of next week’s announcements,” Keely said.
“We can do all the planning we like, but we’re still at the behest of the government announcement next week.”
It won’t just be when local sport can resume that will need to be considered when it comes time for decisions to be made.
The other major issue facing those in charge is how they reschedule both fixtures and still keep them fair and equitable for all clubs.
“What we do know is that the first game back for Central Murray clubs will be round nine that was scheduled for last weekend – they can pencil in that’s who they’re playing no matter what,” Keely said.
“We’ll still be trying to keep things as fair as possible. “It’s extremely likely that there’s going to be an uneven number of games, so in terms of trying to fixture byes and the like, we really have to sit down and go through it and have all the different scenarios put to us and work it out when we know,” Keely said.
“At the end of the day, we’ll try and be as fair as possible to all clubs, but at the same time some teams will probably get a better deal than others unfortunately.”
Other issues likely to have been considered at last nights board meeting would have included border restrictions, crowd numbers and the possibility of junior competitions being allowed to return before the seniors; all obstacles that have been faced already in a complicated 2021 season.
The remaining games of season 2021 will be the first major hurdle to be jumped, with all solutions being considered, including extending the season beyond its current date.
“Theoretically, we could shift the finals back a week for the Central Murray, while the Golden Rivers are very much dictated by when the Central Murray finishes. “With that said, we might need that extra week up our sleeve later on, particularly if things turn pear shaped in the finals and we get another outbreak – but at the moment we could possibly look at the Friday or the Sunday around the AFL Grand Final,” Keely said.
“The Friday is a public holiday; and I think there’s a couple of leagues doing that, but then we also have to be mindful that it’s not a public holiday in NSW, so perhaps we go to the Sunday instead.”
