Junior rugby expected to be given the green light

Narrabri Junior Rugby Club president Mick Coffey has pleaded with clubs and parents to try to be as flexible as possible should the season get underway at any stage in 2020.

Tuesday’s edition of the The Courier reported that on Friday, April 24, NSW Rugby Union announced that it was now targeting a July return for community competitions.

That would include CNRU.

All rugby union-related activities, including training, are currently suspended until June 1, and NSWRU has indicated that any new developments regarding changes to that were subject to federal, state and local governments lifting or significantly easing restriction related to COVID-19.

Coffey told The Courier that the aim now was to maximise the amount of minutes that junior rugby players across the zone got in 2020.

“The situation with junior rugby union is pretty much the same as the seniors, we are probably going to get the green light at some point soon,” he said.

“Clubs, they do need their stand-alone events for their financial position every year.

“There’s still several options on the table, nothing has been set in stone.

“More so than the seniors the juniors in the Sunday gala day system and the Friday night regional comp, all clubs and the schools are going to have to be really flexible around how, when, if and where.

“If we only get a six-week window in term three where these kids can play rugby it’s going to be about going to wherever it’s decided to play footy, and we hope that all the parents will buy into it.

“But it will be a tough sell trying to get people to commit and travel potentially every weekend with no break.

“Perhaps it will be something like that where there’s a high level of commitment expected for a short amount of time.

“The main aim is to give the kids footy somehow, whenever and wherever, and to do all we can to maximise the amount of minutes they can get when we are allowed to.

“It’s going to be about survival for the junior clubs.

“We need to keep the kids and families engaged and hopefully next year it will be back to business as usual.”