After months of back room politics, with clubs weighing up whether or not to play as the coronavirus situation changed wildly from one day to the next, the sound of a siren being blown on Saturday afternoon will be welcomed with open arms.

For Jesse Cunningham, his first year as Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes president has been an initiation none of his predecessors encountered.

It's been a constant mental wrestle as the situation changed almost daily, including the closure of the NSW-Victoria border a fortnight ago which almost put the season in jeopardy.

Are we doing the right thing? Is this what the majority wants? Is this the best thing for our club, country footy and it's long term future?

But now the footy is about to begin, Cunningham said the clubs competing are doing nothing wrong, are following government advice and have done everything they can to make it as safe as possible.

"There has been a lot of negative criticism thrown around from people with their own opinions, and everyone's entitled to their own opinion and their own views," he said.

"But I've said it a million times, we're going off the government's advice and we're not doing anything illegal.

"Down the pub or at a cafe I'm sure I'll get someone saying 'why are you going ahead, you shouldn't be doing that.' But it's always the opinion of people who are uneducated and at the end of the day, we're not health experts, we can only go off what they say and the government's guidelines."

Cunningham said it's everyone's right to make their own decisions on whether they feel safe enough to participate in or watch games this year, but said there should be an avenue for those who want to press on.

AFL Riverina and the clubs have put a number of measures in place to make it as safe as possible, including strongly recommending participants don't travel to and from Border towns.

The Goannas have already ruled out their Albury recruits this year, while most of their Sydney recruits will sit out Saturday's round one clash with Leeton before they reassess the situation.

"Group Nine (rugby league) started last weekend, and soccer two weeks ago. All I'm hearing and reading is AFL Riverina and who's pulled out and I'm thinking, 'there's sport going on everywhere around us'"," he said.

"There has been a lot of negative criticism thrown at AFL Riverina, and I've had plenty of people say to me they should have cancelled the season.

"But at the end of the day if they'd done that, they'd have people whinging then. I feel sorry to an extent for AFL Riverina copping all this harsh criticism, because no matter what decisions they make some people are going to disagree with it.

"These people in these positions are doing what they feel is the best thing for country footy and if you're unhappy with it or the club's unhappy with it, that's fine.

"No one's forcing you to play, no one's forcing you to go to the footy but for the ones who are going, the clubs and AFL Riverina have put measures in place to make it a safe environment."

Cunningham said weighing up the opinions and requirements of all the groups affected by MCUE's eventual decision was a difficult assignment as the club adapted on the run.

"As a club we keep getting the advice off the government, the AFL and AFL Riverina, and use that to make sure you're making decisions based on what your club's issues are, what your club sees is best for your players and members, and what everyone sees as safest."

That's not condemning any of the clubs who have seen fit to sit out the season.

Every clubs has different motivating factors, different issues to contend with, different financial situations.

There's no right answer negotiating something we've never seen before.

But we shouldn't begrudge those who want to embrace footy, if only for a few weeks.

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