It may not be quite as grand as the National Rugby League’s Project Apollo but local footy is also once again in the planning.
The 2020 Christie and Hood Castlereagh League competition is hoping to kick off mid-July according to Castlereagh league secretary Bryson Luff.
Mr Luff said the committee is in the initial stages of trying to plan some sort of competition for the 2020 season following recent advice from NSW Rugby League (NSWRL) that community competitions will be allowed to resume playing and training in July.
He said the NSWRL advice was somewhat tempered by the fact that any resumption of training/play will be subject to further review and confirmation in June.
“It will be influenced by the existing government advice at the time,” Mr Luff said.
All nine Castlereagh Clubs have been surveyed to determine if their players are still keen for football in 2020.
“The response so far has been an overwhelming “Yes”.
“It is a case of taking things one step at a time and until we know how many of our clubs are committed to competing later in the year it is a pointless exercise in trying to draw up any format for the competition.
“Of course the big issue for every club will be whether or not there will be any restrictions on crowd size,” Mr Luff said.
“I don’t think that I am overstepping the mark by saying that if we are not allowed to have crowds then there will be no Castlereagh League in 2020,” he said.
“Crowds are vital to the survival of every club and at the moment it is just a waiting game as far as that goes, but we have to start to get things in place for the resumption of play and pretty much hope that we are allowed to have spectators in attendance at games.
“We now have some distant light in what has been a very long tunnel as far as the 2020 season has been concerned, but hopefully it will become increasingly positive from now on and we can all look forward to some great local rugby league being played in the future!”
