While a decision isn't expected until early next week on whether the league will play this year, inspirational captain Michael Clark says the group is desperate to play.

"Yeah, I think so (we would play for free), I can only go on the conversations I've had with all the players, we obviously talk about it because we just want to get up and playing," he said.

"It's a little cliched, but you don't really realise how much you miss it until it's gone.

"All the players this year will do whatever it takes I guess."

Passionate Hawks' football operations manager Barry Sullivan launched a spirited defence last week of why football should go ahead, citing a host of reasons, including the lack of coronavirus cases in the region and the chance to seize maximum media exposure.

And Sullivan has found a willing ally in Corowa-Rutherglen coach Marc Almond.

"Some people would say, 'why bother'? But I would say, 'why wouldn't we bother'? I believe that the greater impact will be not to play in the years to come than having to get over the challenges to play," he said.

"We can put our league firmly at the front of country football by showing that no matter what the challenges that are put up, we're prepared to overcome them.

"That's the philosophy we have at Corowa-Rutherglen too, we don't want to be the sooks and the little brother who can never get it together, we want to have that reputation that whatever challenges are put in front of us, we're prepared to get over them."

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Almond's attitude is a noble one, given the Roos weren't expected to be a powerhouse and it would be easy to allow the season to slide away and reload for next year.

It's a different story at the Hawks, though, who were tipped to be one of seven genuine finals contenders.

"Obviously we recruited really well and had a pretty exciting list together, we saw it in a small glimpse against Mooroopna in that practice match," Clark said.

"I guess ever since we had that break from training, all the boys were still really excited and we used a running app and had a competition, so we could all see what everyone else was doing.

"The buzz has been really good since we got back to training the last few weeks as well."

The lack of crowds and COVID-19 protocols are the biggest hurdles, but with growing speculation around the league that NSW is more likely to ease crowd restrictions before Victoria, Clark says his club would be prepared to play interstate.

"We play a fair chunk of games in NSW anyway, so it wouldn't be a huge issue because you could always makes those games up later."