Kiewa-Sandy Creek and Chiltern were poised to name 22 players for their clash at Tangambalanga on Saturday, but it has been cancelled after the announcement Victoria would enter its sixth lockdown from 8pm yesterday.

Both the Hawks and Swans flagged interest at a recent league meeting for the idea to select one extra player on the bench to combat the potential risk of injuries after three weeks without football due to COVID-19.

TDFL operations manager Gavin Rendell approved the change and flagged it with all clubs on Wednesday, but said it won't be enforced by the league.

ALSO IN SPORT:

"League president Rex Gray spoke in support of it and thought it was a proactive approach to get more players back to sport and to take some of the pressure off by having four on the bench rather than three, having had three weeks off," Rendell said.

"I emailed the clubs on Wednesday advising them that it is by agreement, so two clubs wishing to play 22 players on the day, can.

"Some of the struggles we've got at the moment is we've got the top clubs that are gung-ho because they want to play finals, but the reality is some of the bottom clubs will struggle to field their sides because they've had three weeks off.

"Clubs can't come back and say they want extra points or salary cap, it has to fit within the current limits.

"It's only for the home and away rounds, it won't be included in finals.

"Given the year we've had, we thought why not try something different."

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: