The Herald Women's Premier League has already lost several high-profile players this season and another, Rhali Dobson, is yet to make a decision on whether she will take part in a modified competition.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Northern NSW Football's top-flight women's competition featured seven current W-League players last campaign but Jets Cassidy Davis, Libby Copus-Brown, Tara Andrews, Lauren Allan and Gema Simon all joined NSW National Premier League sides in Sydney this year.
Dobson, who secured a second W-League championship with Melbourne City this year and has been integral to Merewether making the past three WPL grand finals and winning two, told the Newcastle Herald she was concerned by "so many what-ifs" and would not make a decision on whether to play until there were more firm details.
It means Jets striker Jenna Kingsley, who signed with Newcastle Olympic this season, could be the only remaining W-League player in the WPL.
NNSWF has confirmed the WPL will be reduced from 21 rounds to 14, including two already played, plus a finals series with a proposed start date early in July, subject to being given the go-ahead from the NSW government.
Mid North Coast and Adamstown returned to training, in a modified format, last week and the other six WPL clubs were hoping to have their first sessions this week. Training for now is restricted to non-contact in groups of 10, including a coach who cannot move between groups. Contact may not be granted at training until the NSW Government Public Health Order on gatherings expires on June 29.
Dobson was concerned by both a limited training preparation for competition to resume in early July as well as the likelihood of limited preparation on game days.
"There's a lot of question marks," Dobson said. "The biggest is will it go ahead. I need an official start date confirmed before making any sort of decisions, and knowing what the requirements are going to be for the games because you want to enjoy it. You don't want it to be a stressful time and I think we need to make the best decision for the clubs and their players, not just necessarily because we want the game to go ahead.
"You're being told you've got to turn up dressed, ready to go. You don't do a warm-up there, you do a warm-up at home ... for me that's going to be an increased injury risk."
