Riverina sporting codes will meet this week to formulate plans to finish seasons

There was an eerie feeling at sporting grounds across the Riverina on Saturday afternoon as news filtered through of the snap statewide lockdown enforced by the NSW Government.

The seven-day lockdown put a line through Group Nine, AFL Riverina and Football Wagga fixtures on Sunday. It also rules out any sporting activity until next Sunday, at the earliest.

The lockdown could hardly have come at a more frustrating time for sporting administrators with finals series of all competitions set to begin within the next fortnight.

Group Nine have already declared Sunday's round 17 games as COVID draws and will meet midweek to determine the path forward.

Group Nine chairman Andrew Hinchcliffe is keen to resume next Sunday, should the lockdown be lifted in the region.

"I would imagine we will get a heads up during the week to where that is up to and that's why it is important we communicate with clubs as playing on Sunday might be an option for us," Hinchcliffe said.

"It's still too early to know."

The Riverina League blockbuster between Coolamon and Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong at Kindra Park was the only game lost in AFL Riverina, along with a round of Wagga and District juniors.

AFL Riverina is yet to determine what happens to the game but the scenario is the exact reason why both Riverina and Farrer Leagues have used the match ratio ladder this year.

It operates on a percentage of games won, should games be lost due to COVID, rather than total points for games won.

AFL NSW-ACT's community football manager, for regional NSW and ACT, Marc Geppert, said all options will be on the table once discussions begin on Monday morning.

"Everything is on the table. Postponements, make-up games, playing on Sunday versus Saturday, there's so many options," Geppert said.

"We'll meet first thing on Monday to work out what it means not only for the juniors, but the senior match (Coolamon v Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong) which was meant to go ahead.

"With how quickly this situation can change, there's only a certain amount of planning you can do anyway. We'll discuss what the immediate impact is, then we'll put plans in place for restart dates and monitor the health advice."

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Geppert said the AFL will explore all options for finals series, including pushing the season back, as well as shortened structures should time become a factor.

The Farrer League and Southern Inland Rugby Union (SIRU) were able to complete their home and away seasons on Saturday, leaving only finals series to be conducted.

Football Wagga lost their Pascoe Cup and Leonard Cup rounds on Sunday, but are better-placed than rival codes after already extending their season into mid-October due to the washouts.

Group Nine have already put a number of contingencies in place if the season needed to be extended past the September 19 grand final date and have Equex Centre booked into October.

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