Tallangatta league clubs will be ready to play when Victoria lockdown ends

As things stand, the competition will resume next Saturday - just 36 hours after Victoria is due to emerge from Stage 3 restrictions.

Players south of the border will only be able to train in pairs this week, so preparation is going to be a long way from normal.

But the message from coaches is clear: we want to play.

"We're going alright at the moment so we want to keep the season going," Chiltern's Luke Brookes said.

"We don't know, unfortunately, what COVID's going to throw at us next, so let's get the games in while we can and hopefully keep winning.

"We lost in round one to Barnawartha but we've won six in a row since then so we've got some momentum.

"The majority of our players are in Victoria so we're not going to be able to do too much.

"Hopefully they can all go for a run or two next week and use their two-hour block to keep ticking over for next week, if we kick off like the plan is."

Chiltern are top, leading Yackandandah on percentage, with Tallangatta one of three sides a win further back.

"We're always happy to play," Hoppers coach Tyson Smith said. "Like we've done throughout these lockdowns, we've just made it work.

"The boys will be doing training, in Victoria, in twos, and the guys who are based in NSW will be catching up to do what they need to do.

"We'll be preparing to play as soon as we can and we'll be ready to play when we can."

Rutherglen, sitting on a 4-3 record, are also keen to resume at the earliest opportunity.

"It's going to be a challenge but the boys have been through this before," coach Steve Owen said.

"Ideally, you'd like to have at least one session with the boys prior to playing but if you look at the bigger picture, the boys have missed all of last year so it would be good to see the full season be played.

"Whichever way the league goes, we'll be ready."

Mitta United coach Jackson Heagney-Steart, like his counterparts, has no issue going straight back out to play.

"It's a bit of a speed bump but you just get on with it," he said. "We want to play as quickly as possible.

"We're not stressed about not having trained throughout that week. We just want to get back and play footy and get back to business as soon as we can."

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The break has come at good time for injury-hit Wahgunyah, who do at least have the majority of their players based in NSW.

"It doesn't affect us too much, especially with the border bubble as well," coach Kodee Lowe said.

"We won't be allowed to train in Wahgunyah so we're looking at training over in Corowa if we can.

"If we don't train or do anything, we're going to be a mile behind the eight-ball.

"I wouldn't be overly thrilled to run a side out without having a session all week so I'd love to train at least once on a communal ground somewhere in NSW to get a little bit of fitness."

Yackandandah assistant coach Marcus Dowling is hopeful the Victorian Government may even shorten the lockdown period, allowing players to come back together on Thursday night.

"We can train in pairs and the boys made a commitment last night to do that," he said.

"Hopefully, with only four cases today, the restrictions end sooner than Thursday and we can get back to training.

"But we've asked the boys to do whatever they can over the next week to maintain a bit of fitness and we'll go with whatever the league decides to do in regard to when they play next.

"I noticed the Ovens and King have announced they'll miss two weeks, so clubs can train for a week before they play again, but I think, if it was only one week, we'd be ready to go on Saturday week.

"We've got a fairly young list and they seem to be able to handle that sort of thing reasonably well.

"We may even have a light run on Friday, just for 20 minutes, a bit of a kick to get the body moving a little bit before the Saturday."

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