That was the mantra for Liam Delahunty in 2020 as the chances to showcase his football ability dried up, but not his thirst to succeed.

After signing with Melbourne NAB League team Northern Knights for this year, the 19-year-old was left stranded when the competition was cancelled and junior club Coolamon opted not to play in the AFL Riverina Championship.

He accepted an offer to train with Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong, but had to wait until their preliminary final defeat to Leeton-Whitton to play a senior game as coach Christin Macri backed his local contingent.

After biding his time in reserve grade the tall utility was strong for the Lions in the preliminary final.

But he hopes opportunities aren't quite as thin on the ground next season.

"It was really hard, I was down in Melbourne and there was no real answers for a while, so it was tough to know what was happening. The best thing for me was to come back home and I really enjoyed it," he said.

"They're moving the NAB League age to under-19s next year, hopefully I can play as an over-ager again and I'll probably look to link up with a VFL club as well."

Delahuntry said his stint in reserve grade at the Lions gave his a chance to develop a few more skills.

"I actually really enjoyed it, I was able to train with the senior team during the week so I still got around the boys," he said.

"Playing ressies I was on the ball a bit so I got a chance to work on some different aspects of the game.

"It was definitely good to get a run with the senior team. A fair bit of training went into it and finally got the opportunity, but not the result."

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