Edgeworth are not counting on having star striker Jeremy Brockie back if the 2021 Northern NSW NPL season resumes.
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Brockie is the leading scorer in the competition with 15 goals but he has returned to his family in Queensland during the the COVID lockdown, which has forced the suspension of the NPL with just two rounds to play.
The former Kiwi international has been a key man in his first season for the Eagles, who are third on 34 points - four behind Lambton Jaffas and three shy of Maitland.
Northern NSW Football are meeting with premier clubs this week to discuss ways to complete seasons if restrictions are eased.
Brockie decided in mid-July to stay and finish the season with the Eagles when the Queensland border was closing. However, the subsequent Hunter lockdown and chance of football not returning this year prompted Brockie to go home for a 14-day hotel quarantine in order to reunite with his family in Townsville.
Edgeworth coach Michael Bridges said his squad were "spot on" injury-wise before the lockdown but Brockie may not be back. If football returns, Bridges will look to Kristian Brymora to step up in Brockie's absence after his disrupted year following groin surgery.
"Whether he's able to return, that's another matter, but it's not looking too promising at the moment and I wouldn't want him to get caught in a similar situation again [with quarantine]," Bridges said. "Everyone else is good, and it gives Kristian Brymora more time to get himself back up to speed."
Bridges, who is keen to stay at the helm next season, hoped the Eagles got a chance to push for silverware after a seven-game unbeaten run before the suspension.
"We've got the best run in and it's all to play for, that's why it would be harsh if the three teams in contention couldn't get it finished with two games to play," he said.
"But we don't make the rules, and there's people still dying, so football becomes immaterial. That's the harsh reality."
Bridges and rival coaches Shane Pryce (Jaffas) and Mick Bolch (Maitland) believed teams would need at least a week of training to prepare for a return.
"I don't think you can just come out of lockdown and play a game on the Saturday," Bridges said. "Everyone will be underdone and it would be no good for the players or the comp."
Bolch said his priority would be to complete the regular season but he was hopeful the finals could also be played, given they were pushed back into November last year because of COVID.
"I'd be really disappointed if they awarded Jaffas minor premiers with two games to go and there's still three teams fighting for it," Bolch said. "Also, Jaffas have never won it, so it will be a big thing for them to finish on top and they won't want it with an asterisk because the comp was called off after 16 games.
"My team have done really well to get where they are, so it would be really disappointing not to finish it off. You'd finish it off and run third than always wonder whether we would have done it or not."
Pryce said of finishing the regular season: "You want the full complement of everyone putting their best foot forward, that goes without saying."
He said his squad were ready to adapt to any changes made to the schedule to finish the season.
The break, which is set to stretch into a third weekend, has allowed the Jaffas to give Josh Piddington (broken nose), Luke Remington (hamstring) and Scott Pettit (calf) time to recover from their injuries.