CDHBU and Murray Magpies cobble together sides without locked down Victorians

Lockhart president Bob Mathews told The Border Mail on Friday the Hume league shouldn't have to cover for clubs who choose to recruit from Victoria after the decision to cancel last round and introduce the match ratio method to assist teams who are battling to field sides due the lockdown in the southern state.

The Power and Murray Magpies have forfeited under-17s for Saturday's clash at Urana Road Oval, but have found enough numbers to play seniors and reserves.

Another major concern for CDHBU is finding a caretaker, with coaches John Pratt, Mick Collins and Corey Smith all out of action by living in Victoria.

"We're losing sight of the reason we're in this situation, it's because of COVID," Rippingale said.

"We don't want to be discriminated against. People come to your club because they want to be there and we're living on the border.

"We have eight or nine guys that live in Wahgunyah and have all played junior footy for us.

"It's disappointing because we have a bubble and that to me is one, all in, but when it comes to footy that doesn't happen.

"I'd love to have 10 John Pratts running around and four Corey Smiths. You don't judge a person where they come from, that's wrong. It's just going to cause a rift between clubs.

"The league has tried to be fair and square and it's NSW-bound as you know, so it's tough, but it won't stop me from recruiting Victorians.

"We recruit players on their merits, not where they come from."

ALSO IN SPORT:

Murray Magpies president Ted Miller admitted his club couldn't field it's three football grades (seniors, reserves and under-17s), due to the sheer number injured or in lockdown, but still wanted to provide an opportunity for those able to play.

"We're not flushed with a lot of under-17s, but some of them have played seniors or reserves games over the last few weeks when we've been short with injuries," Miller said.

"We're pushing some of them up and whether we get a full reserves side or we play 16 a side remains to be seen.

"The netballers were keen to play and they're short too with Victorians and a few injuries as well.

"Some of the under-15s and 17s are looking forward to going up and having a crack in the senior grades."

Miller was unsure how sustainable it would be for clubs with a higher number of Victorians to push on beyond this week.

"I think the NSW government will end up doing tougher restrictions like last year on community sport if it keeps going," Miller added.

"We can only do what we can."

Five out of six senior Hume league matches will be played on Saturday, with the exception of the Osborne and Billabong Crows fixture.

The Crows made the tough call on Thursday night to not field any football teams this weekend as the result of a player shortage.

"We're down probably six players that would have been selected to play this week and probably close to another five or six in the reserves that could have been in the mix to come up as well," assistant coach Josh Kleine said.

"We already had a very long injury list so taking another six fit players out of contention is really stretching us at the moment."

Rippingale warned Hume league officials would need to make some hard decisions, fast, if they want to have a finals series.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: