Billabong Crows plan to field at least three grades of football against Rand-Walbundrie-Walla on Saturday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The southern state entered its sixth lockdown since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic at 8pm on Thursday and has again ruled out the Crows' senior coach Jason Kerr and assistant Josh Kleine, whilst reserve coach Michael Ciccia also lives in Victoria.
John Simpson and Zac Kerr will share the senior coaching duties, with Daniel Smallwood and Michael Cunningham to take charge of the seconds.
Josh Evans, Archie Vuarchoz, Jeremy Bourchier, Dylan Flanagan and Matt Anderson can't play either, but Kleine revealed it will provide an opportunity for at least seven under-17s to line up in the reserves.
Kleine confirmed the club had several more players available than a fortnight ago.
"We struggle for numbers out where we are as it is, so we rely on blokes floating in and out with availability," he said.
"Everyone we tried, we just couldn't get blokes available that week, but this week was a bit easier.
"We had a handful of blokes who could play and I got my brother in, so it was a bit of a team effort.
"Last time we had less kids available too.
ALSO IN SPORT:
"We don't have a lot of locals in our under-17s, we rely on a lot of kids out of Albury-Wodonga travelling out there to play with mates, as well as permit players. We've got a few more available this time which is good.
"It will still be up in the air a little bit as to whether our under-17s go ahead. We're hoping we do, but if we lose three or four out of the reserves, the under-17s won't go ahead because we've already got seven of them selected to play up.
"It's a bit too much ask the kids to back up when there's that many who will have to play full games in the reserves. It's a bit easier if we can rotate them on the bench."
And while there's a sense of frustration from Kleine that he won't be able to fulfil his role on game day for the Crows this weekend, he's very proud the club will get the opportunity to play.
"We always want footy to go ahead as much as possible, so we're very happy we've been able to put two senior grades on the park at this stage," he said.
"We still lose a lot from the Victorian side of things, as we did last time and losing coaches isn't ideal as well. Especially when kids are stepping up and playing in the senior grades and you don't have the usual coaches there to help them.
"In saying that, we've got some pretty experienced blokes stepping into those roles who will certainly be able to lead the way on the weekend. I think the club is in pretty good hands with them taking over for the weekend."
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:
- Bookmark https://www.bordermail.com.au/
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters
- Follow us on Twitter: @bordermail
- Follow us on Instagram @bordermail
- Follow us on Google News