Newly-tightened 'bubble' restrictions mean spectators can't cross the border in either direction to watch games, even though 'sport and exercise at a sporting club or facility' has been included in the six reasons for moving between NSW and Victoria.

But league officials and clubs have come up with a solution which they hope will maximise crowd numbers at the biggest games of the season.

"We may have to operate two separate competitions," league operations manager Shane Railton said.

"It's becoming more likely that we'll have to run two separate finals series.

"Hopefully, by the time they conclude, there will be an opportunity for us to have both states' premiers come together and play a 'super grand final.'

"We'd play a NSW finals series and a Victorian finals series. If it (the travel ban for spectators) finished at prelim final time, we might cross the two sides over.

"That remains a likelihood because I think there's going to come a time when we're able to have crowds in Victoria for Victorians only and we're able to have NSW people attend NSW games.

"We'll monitor that. As it stands now, our ability to have finals in NSW with crowds makes it a more attractive option than playing in Victoria.

"We got a fairly strong mandate from our clubs last week to just get the season done, to do whatever it takes, within reason, to make it happen.

"Our wish was to get going as quickly as we could and clubs are at a point now that we just need to get the season done.

"It's a can-do attitude, not a why-not attitude."

The top eight is already locked in and with four of those clubs on either side of the border, it looks a workable solution.

Strathmerton, Waaia, Katamatite and Katunga would contest the Victorian finals, while Tungamah, Berrigan, Jerilderie and Mathoura would do battle in NSW.

But the involvement of Jerilderie presents a further challenge after Murrumbidgee, its LGA, was locked out of the border bubble last week.

Jerilderie's scheduled away game against Tungamah on Saturday was switched to Berrigan only for Berrigan Shire Council to block the move at the 11th hour.

The matches were cancelled and premiership points shared equally between the clubs across all grades of football and netball.

"That was frustrating to say the least," Railton said.

"The way it transpired was the most disappointing thing.

"Our clubs have user agreements with the different reserves and the club (Berrigan) was of the opinion they had full use of that facility for anything that was not illegal. That continues to be their view.

"They (the council) didn't want people from the Murrumbidgee Council area coming and playing sport in one of their venues but we had a game at Tocumwal, which is also a Berrigan Shire venue, and there was nothing put in place to ensure that people didn't come from inside the Murrumbidgee Council area to attend that match for the purpose of spectating or playing.

"We weren't trying to flaunt rules, we were just trying to make arrangements inside the rules that were available to us.

"I have a meeting with Berrigan Shire Council this week and we're hopeful that decision will be overturned."

ALSO IN SPORT

Jerilderie is due to play away to Picola United on Saturday and Railton knows time is of the essence.

"Not only does it affect the club's ability to play in finals but there are also individual awards that get impacted by clubs not being able to play," he said.

"If a player has an injury, it's not anyone's doing but their own misfortune that they haven't been able to play and get votes.

"But when the club's not able to play, in this scenario, they're being robbed of an opportunity."

Railton admitted it's a tough time to be an administrator.

"We had non-affiliation with the AFL a few years ago and we had to get a season up and running within days, transferring complete IT systems," he said.

"That was challenging but at least the unknown was only there for a short amount of time and we were able to plan going forward.

"With this, you're continually changing by the day and that's paramount even more so with the announcement that there's only six purposes for Victorians to be able to go into NSW, albeit that participating or being involved in sport is one of them.

"It still poses another challenge because we looked at the prospect, and I'm sure the Ovens and Murray did, of having finals in NSW where crowd numbers were reasonable.

"Now, our Victorian people can't go over there to spectate even though our games in NSW can have spectators from anywhere in NSW.

"It's a bizarre scenario."

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