Sporting bodies in the region have breathed a collective sigh of relief and delivered a collective cheer after a date was set for NSW senior sport to emerge from the coronavirus miasma.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The state government announced on Wednesday that senior sport could resume on July 1 - ending months of frustration, uncertainty and angst.
Read more:
For Central North Rugby Union, the announcement matters not: it had already decided to cancel its season. While what will become of the 2020 season for Group 4 and Group 19 remains unclear.
Group 4 will reveal the fate of its season at a press conference on Friday. Group 19 has set a July 18 start date, but rates the chances of staging competitions at 50-50.
Last month New England Ruby Union set a season launch date of July 18. And with full-contact training allowed from July 1, the teams should have a decent foundation ahead of the opening round of truncated competitions.
NERU president David Clifton said "we're waiting for information from our clubs as to their readiness to start, but the indications are all of our clubs will be ready to go".
He said there could be a seven-team first-grade competition, with Glen Innes a potential top-grade addition.
Walcha has also applied to join the NERU following the abandonment of the Central North season. Clifton said a decision on the application was pending.
Walcha Rams president Roger Van Den Hoek said the club wanted to give their players the opportunity to compete this season.
"We've got a pretty keen group of young guys," he said.
In a statement, AFL North West said "we're really excited by the announcement".
It said: "There's an executive meeting tonight [Wednesday] and we're organising a meeting with club presidents as well.
"We'll get feedback from them and hopefully move toward a start date from there.
"AFL North West want to get players back on the field as soon as it's safe."
Northern Inland Football operations manager Toby McVey said leading senior clubs were eager to start playing in early July.
He said: "We've got a meeting planned to discuss the first weekend in July as potential trial-game fixtures, with the competition kicking off on July 11."
Tamworth Hockey Association president Mark O'Connor described the July 1 restart as "tremendously exciting, because the day we've been waiting for is finally here".
He added: "We've got some certainty around the arrangements to move forward with confidence, that we will have a season - albeit a shortened one."
Hockey clubs resume training on Monday.
Hockey NSW said July 18 was still the proposed start date for all competitions.
But it said that if associations/venues had completed all necessary requirements, in line with Covid-19 regulations, competitions could start from July 1.
O'Connor said the THA would investigate the possibility of starting earlier than July 18.
He said: "Now that the date has been brought forward, we'll go back to the drawing board and see what a competition starting on July 1 looks like (for both juniors and seniors) and recalibrate with the clubs so we can get the most effective season in that we can."
Zone 3 bowls president Ian Bannister said club competitions would resume on July 1.
"It's been a long time in the waiting," he said.