Geoff Sharpe: Roosters mentor calls for two-week final series if lockdown lifted | Group 4 grand final

On Tuesday, the Leader reported that NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro was pushing for large areas of regional NSW unaffected by the Delta outbreak, including Tamworth, to come out of lockdown this weekend.

But Sharpe - a senior police officer - fears that Tamworth will remain in lockdown, given COVID has been found in the city's sewage in four consecutive tests.

Such a development would signal the death knell for the Group 4 season.

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While other competitions abandoned their season, Group 4 has been in a holding pattern before finding out if the lockdown will be extended beyond midnight on Friday.

Group 4 chairman Terry Psarakis has said there are two options if the stay-at-home order ends this week.

The first option involves two weeks of training and then a two-week finals series.

The second option involves two weeks of training and then a grand final day involving the teams who finished first and second of the table when the season was suspended.

In first grade, Narrabri and Kootingal-Moonbi were the top two sides respectively.

The second scenario would be "a bit unfair", Sharpe said.

"But I just can't understand that if we come out of lockdown [on Saturday] why we can't do the two weeks of training and then have the semis the last week of September and then have the grand final on the October long weekend," he said.

"I reckon that would be a great idea ... Have it [the finale] on Saturday, when the NRL grand final is on Sunday. That would be perfect."

Group 4 was having its best season in years when Delta struck.

Sharpe said: "We got through the first couple of weeks [of the lockdown] and then the first three weeks; I was messaging all the boys.

"Hopefully they've kept training. But it's been pretty demoralising for everyone, I think."

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