FIVE-time Albury best and fairest winner Shaun Daly has encouraged the Ovens and Murray to do everything in its power to play this season.
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Daly said players throughout the competition were desperate for football and hopes the league's hierarchy will find a way to make it work after further community sport coronavirus restrictions are announced on June 22.
"There is a lot of water to go under the bridge but I just think we have to give it a crack," Daly said.
"With a lot of other leagues not playing this year, it's a great opportunity for the Ovens and Murray to make it work.
"We should leave no stone unturned.
"There will be challenges but the players I speak to from Albury and other clubs and leagues are itching to get out there and play.
"Everybody is missing playing."
Daly's comments come after Wangaratta and Corowa-Rutherglen coaches Luke Morgan and Marc Almond also spoke about the importance of getting a season off the ground.
All 10 Ovens and Murray clubs have resumed training with good numbers attending most sessions.
"Sometimes when you train in the middle of winter you wonder what you are doing but I tell you what when we started training a couple of weeks ago the boys were jumping out of their skin," Daly said.
"I don't think you realise how much you miss it until you are out there running around.
"We've been splitting into six groups with seven or eight in most groups and it's been fantastic.
"I'm an old fart and don't have many years left in me so I want to play as much footy as I can while I can.
"A lot of the younger guys are in the prime of their careers and they don't want to miss more footy either."
Daly said it would be a huge disappointment for clubs if the season was abandoned given the likely evenness of the competition.
"There has been a lot of hype as a number of clubs think they are top three sides," he said.
"Probably more than I can remember in my time in the league."
Ovens and Murray chairman David Sinclair hopes to have enough information to make a decision by late June.
He believes August 8 is the latest the season can start with 500 spectators required to be viable.