COOLAMON netball coach Claudia Barton believes a change of plan to extend AFL Riverina's season deadline would give everyone much-needed hope through the regional NSW lockdown.
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The Hoppers finished third in the Riverina League competition, and like all clubs are anxiously waiting to see if AFL Riverina's board will extend their initial season deadline at a meeting on Monday night to give finals a chance of going ahead.
While there is clearly no guarantee health restrictions will allow games to be played in October, Barton said extending the time frame would give people "something to look forward to".
"October feels like it's so far away, but at the moment we're hanging onto hope for the next few weeks. Looking forward to something in the future is something most people would be wanting at the moment," she said.
"It seems doom and gloom at the moment anyway in terms of netball going ahead, but if they extended it until October it would give us an opportunity to keep training and everything we're doing, even if it's by ourselves.
"A definitive answer would ease us all. It would be ideal to all be given the opportunity to play, even if we can't train until early October.
"I think most teams would have that competitive edge in them to put in the hard yards for a while before getting into the finals, I'd like to see that happen."
North Wagga coach Flynn Hogg, who guided the Saints to the minor premiership in her first year in charge, said they're hoping for a change of heart.
"We'll keep positive, that's all you can do at the moment," she said.
"We were unbeaten through the second round and we were on a roll, but everyone's on the same boat at the moment.
"After last year when a lot of us didn't get to play, it would be good to try and make it happen for everyone.
"We organised a trial this Saturday (against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes) which obviously won't happen."
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