With pressure on sponsors and fewer home games, the Farrer League could face calls from clubs to share in finals gate-takings this year.
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The Rock-Yerong Creek co-president David Pieper has raised the prospect, while East Wagga-Kooringal president Steve Absolum says it's very difficult to work out what the right decisions will be in a coronavirus-affected season.
The AFL has recommended community leagues slash their salary caps in half for starters, and then reduce it again for every game lost to the shutdown.
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While many pubs are indicating they intend to keep supporting their clubs, Absolum said there aren't easy answers.
"Clubs aren't getting money from their sponsors - you don't even go there - so to pay players, do you expect them to play for nothing when they've got a written contract to get paid per game?" Absolum said.
"People say players should play for nothing but it's like a second job. A lot of them are family blokes, they have kids, their footy money pays for something else.
"I don't think we can expect people like your signed players to hold their hand up and say, 'I'll play for nothing.'
"But I don't know the right and wrong answers here."
Absolum said if the Farrer League gets an eight-game regular season in, it will be difficult to ask sponsors for support for four home games. And a lot will ride on the crowd-drawing ability of the opposition for those home games.
TRYC's Pieper, says clubs may need to talk to the league about a share of finals gate-takings.
"From a financial point of view, if there's nothing coming in, you can't have anything going out," Pieper said.
"Our two major sponsors, The Rock Bowling Club and Ashmont Hotel, they're not open so they can't afford to pay anyone.
"Gate takings aren't a big thing until finals, and they go to the league. Maybe that's a discussion we need to have with the league.
"But paying players is going to depend on what's available. It might just have to be a year without player payments."
It could bring the correction many thought was required to get player payments back under control.
Absolum warned the lack of a season, so far, could hurt participation if some players and volunteers discover they don't miss the commitment.
The flip side of that coin, of course, is the realisation of what they're missing.
A spell of sensational autumn weather might have eased the pain so far but as the days grow shorter and colder, the reality of a winter without sport and a close-knit community might hit home.
"I've been in touch with some poor trainers at our club and asked if they miss training. They say, 'Yeah' and I say well this is a lesson for you," Absolum said.
"You should train when you can because there'll come a time when it's taken away from you and it's out of your control, with injury or whatever. And you'll regret.
"But what people miss is the camaraderie and the mateship, sitting around having a chat, and the people around your footy club."