A leading Tallangatta league coach admits finishing the season is becoming increasingly unlikely now that both sides of the Border are locked down.
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Co-coach Tom Anson says his Barnawartha side remains committed to playing finals if given the chance, after finishing fourth in the home-and-away season.
But more than six weeks since the TDFL went into recess, he's realistic about the prospects from this point.
"I don't think the season will be finished in the traditional sense, out at Sandy Creek," Anson said.
"If restrictions do open up enough, it might have to be a weekend round-robin with reduced game time.
"We'll push on as best we can in the hope that something might happen but it's probably looking less likely than likely.
"It's extremely difficult to keep motivated.
"You start to see a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, the finals get scheduled and things look like they're going to go ahead and then NSW goes into lockdown.
"It's been tough but our club has done a really good job of trying to look after people from a mental health point of view, trying to keep things as normal as possible with everything that's going on at the moment.
"We'd love to see a result.
"Blokes don't put their bodies on the line all year to finish with no result, but in the same breath, when the majority of some teams can't train, it's hard to push on.
"If the finals were going to get under way, we'd be super keen.
"We believe we've got a terrific chance with this group.
"But with the lockdown in NSW and Victoria, in terms of motivation and appetite, it makes it pretty hard."
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Anson also called for a sense of perspective following the return of stay-at-home orders in Victoria.
"I'm a schoolteacher, so it's pretty challenging working remotely, but even more challenging for those who are losing income," Anson said.
"From a football point of view, we were being governed by the NSW lockdown anyway and the likelihood of finals getting under way with the NSW case numbers was pretty low.
"Even though football's important, there are people inside and outside football clubs who enjoy summer sports too.
"We can't impact on that.
"It might be easier to get tennis and cricket, those sort of sports, under way, than it will be for football."
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