Central North and New England officials will start to nut out plans for how a modified competition might look after a tentative restart date was proposed by the NSW Rugby Union - offering a flicker of hope to players, clubs and officials of there being some sort of a season.
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While there wasn't any dates other than July specified, and is dependent on the public health restrictions being relaxed, the picture is certainly a lot brighter for the local rugby community.
New England officials held a virtual zoom meeting last week to brainstorm competition options. Following Friday's announcement they are planning to hold further discussions with the clubs some time in the next week.
Central North president Tony Byrnes said they will put to the clubs a proposal of playing one round with a grand final "around about the [October] long weekend or the weekend after".
"I haven't got around to all the clubs yet but speaking to a couple so far they seem to think that would be the cleanest and simplest way to go," he told The Leader.
There is still a lot that needs to fall into place for it to become a reality.
At present, by directive of Rugby Australia, all rugby-related activities are suspended until June 1.
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The current public health order in relation to travelling and mass gatherings would also prohibit any competition going ahead. It is due to expire on June 29, and sporting bodies are pinning their hopes on the restrictions being eased.
Byrnes had said after RA extended the initial ban to June 1 that early June would probably be the cut-off to be able to run a viable competition but the clubs have expressed that they would rather the season run later than not have one at all.
He indicated they were looking at a potential kick-off date of July 18. That is in line with a number of other sports, and would allow a couple of weeks "for training and conditioning for all the clubs and the players".
It would be about a month behind when the second round was due to start.
But there is still a lot of uncertainty. Even if the restrictions are eased there could still be some issues, particularly in regards to spectators.
There is some concern about playing in front of limited, or no, spectators.
"The main loss would be revenue and I think the clubs would be hesitant to play to an empty stadium," Byrnes said.
It would also be hard for the clubs and the zone to police.
For now it is still very much a waiting game.
"We're planning for the worst and hoping for the best," he said.
