Wodonga Saints president Adrian Barry revealed his club is at risk of not being able to field under-17s, 14s or 12s in 2021 after a year without football.

Barry said the club's senior numbers are strong, but believes juniors don't have the motivation to play football at the moment.

"From what I can gather, the O and M clubs aren't that flush either, so it's showing the numbers are dropping," Barry said.

"They've found other things like playing Xbox and sitting on the couch and parents struggle to motivate them to do anything other than have their social connection online.

"Last year, we had a full complement of 17s, 14s and 12s ready to go for the 2020 season, but unfortunately most of the 17s were top-age and missed out on their last year of junior footy.

"Some of them have gone off to play under-18s in the Ovens and Murray and trying to replace them has been very difficult.

"There's a risk we won't field junior teams this year."

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Barry said the Saints have motivated coaches within the junior ranks and have worked hard to attract players to no avail.

"We've done footy clinics at the Wodonga Middle Years colleges, we've done social media campaigns and a bunch of other things to try and motivate these kids, but to get them to commit to footy this year is like pulling teeth unfortunately," he said.

"Because the numbers are looking low, the players we do have are starting to drop off a bit as well.

"It's a concern, not just for us, but the bigger picture. This year and next year, I think country footy as a whole is going to suffer."

Barry believes the football structure at junior level doesn't work.

"We've got one of the biggest Auskick centres in Australia here in Wodonga and I would only suggest 30 per cent of those kids go on to play footy anywhere because there's no formal pathway for them to move on to," Barry said.

"It's something the AFL is going to have to look at long-term or the talent pool for football in years to come is going to be pretty ordinary."

Beechworth and Rutherglen have reported fears of a junior player shortage, while Mitta didn't field under-14s in 2019 and face a similar plight this year.

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