NEWCASTLE and Hunter Rugby Union expects to make a call on an abbreviated 2020 season in a fortnight, but the governing body and its clubs concede they face challenges.
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NHRU held a zoom meeting with club presidents on Thursday, and while the clubs were keen to play this season, there were concerns over COVID-19 protocols and the financial impact of no crowds.
"Ideally, we would like to play footy, but we are not going to if means, financially, we are not going to be around in 2021," Maitland president Pat Howard told the Newcastle Herald.
"When you break it down per player, it costs about $600 a season to put someone on the park.
"Our two big revenue streams are bar and community sponsorship. A lot of our sponsors are restaurants and venues. We can't ask them for money. For 2020 we are looking at recouping about 20 per cent of our sponsorship. It will be hard.
"In terms of COVID-19, we will have extra costs for hand sanitisers and we will have to do things like clean the change rooms more often. With the restrictions on people, we won't be able call in more volunteers. It will be pretty much players and support staff at the ground. It will be challenging."
The other issue was what shape the competition takes. Under the initial draw, this weekend would have been round eight.
"It wasn't discussed on how many grades would play but the general consensus is two," Howard said. "We are waiting for a directive from NSW Rugby. The longer we wait, the less likely it is that a competition will go ahead. The playing group, as a whole, want to play footy, but it raises the question of why are they risking injury and their livelihood if it is going to be a half a comp.
"We are meeting again in two weeks. Hopefully we will have a bit more information by then."
NHRU president Bill Clifton said Maitland's concerns were shared by most clubs and were understandable given the circumstances.
"The pleasing thing is that a spirit of collaboration and co-operation exists between the clubs and NHRU," Clifton said. "We are still waiting for the NSW Government and NSW Rugby to provide direction. We plan to meet again in two weeks and reassess. You would like to think that clarity around a start date and crowds will be more known."
Clifton said the NHRU had drawn up different competition models and had an open mind on the duration and format.
"We have a couple of different draws, we just need some certainty," he said.
"The big challenge is what happens to club's finances. They incur costs but without crowds they don't get any income to offset them."
Clifton said all community sport would have to adhere COVID-19 protocols.
"We know councils need to be cautious and are considering their liability as well," Clifton said."Councils are not keen to open canteens. Then there is COVID cleaning of change rooms. Can players shower? There are a myriad of things to consider.
"If we can get on the park we will, but we will see. The pleasing thing is that everyone wants to work together on it. There is a really good spirit of unity."
As well as four senior teams, including a women's outfit, Maitland boast 550 juniors and Howard was more optimistic on their chances of playing..
"Juniors are a different kettle of fish," he said. "Costs aren't as high due to insurance and the like. Also, the noise around the medical side of it is that kids aren't as infectious.
"I think the juniors might have more of a shot of getting a decent competition up and running. Most importantly, we don't want to lose our kids. We have 550 of them waiting for the go ahead.
"We are doing our best to get rugby on the park across the board.We don't want to lose people to other codes. We want to keep them involved with the club."
