Wodonga not comfortable restarting Ovens and Murray season with no spectators

That's the message from Bulldogs' co-president Mauro Stefani after the state's lockdown was lifted from midnight on Tuesday, but community sporting events can have no spectators and are limited to a minimum number of people required to participate and facilitate the activity.

Stefani believes without a crowd of at least 750, the number agreed upon by clubs as the minimum to make the season viable, the Bulldogs would be running at a loss.

However, he believes if the league consider making this year's finals series a top eight, to allow clubs such as Wodonga who have missed out on too many games as a result of the most recent lockdown to bridge the three-game gap to the top five, as well as recoup from running home and away games at a loss before finals, the answer could be different.

"All the clubs have included we are a community-based competition and if the community can't share the game with us, what's the point of playing? 750 is what we agreed to. When you've got two clubs there, there's probably 250 people who are players, plus the netballers and everyone supporting," Stefani said.

"It means 350 could be players and officials and the actual crowd is even less, so 750 is a realistic number.

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"Every club in the competition, especially us, have worked so hard to keep our heads above water in terms of maintaining our sponsorship and keeping the revenue coming in so we can improve.

"It would hurt after all the hard work we've done in the last couple of years to get out of the red. When you're in the red you can't attract players, administrators, sponsors and you need to have some sort of level of standard to improve.

"If they go to a final eight and the league distributes those extra funds back to the clubs, we would definitely consider that."

The Ovens and Murray proved it isn't impossible to manipulate the draw to have all games played in NSW with less crowd restrictions when the season resumed from Victoria's fourth lockdown in June, which included a double-header at Lavington Sports Ground.

However, if it went that way, it would again rule out everyone who lives outside the border ubbble in Victoria, with Myrtleford, Wangaratta and Wangaratta Rovers hugely impacted due to a large contingent of Melbourne-based players at those three clubs.

Corowa-Rutherglen president Stuart Lingham admitted his club is in a tough situation as it stands as it will be without its Melbourne players for home games due travel restrictions into Victoria from NSW for non-border bubble residents.

"Of course we want it both ways because we want to have our (Melbourne) players and we want to play in front of a crowd," he said.

"Our priority is to get football and netball happening in one way, shape or form. If we have to compromise on some things, we may have to.

"We've got to get a few more games in before finals to make the finals series meaningful.

"Some of the Victorian clubs have said in the past if they can't have crowds, they don't want to play, but maybe that changes now with finals approaching.

The club presidents had a Zoom meeting with the Ovens and Murray yesterday afternoon before the league's board discussed its options.

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