NSW-Victoria border competitions announce changes following lockdown

Victoria’s snap five-day lockdown has sent footy officials scurrying as they try to keep their seasons alive following the second interruption in several weeks.

Footy is temporarily out of reach in border competitions. Picture: Yuri Kouzmin.

Footy and netball is again on hold on the Victoria-NSW border.

With Victoria set to enter a five-day lockdown from 11.59pm on Thursday, leagues along the Murray River said it was simply not possible for games to go ahead.

Games can still be played in NSW but a travel limit of only 5km for those south of the Murray means it is almost impossible according to competition officials.

Murray league general manager Dale Norman described the frustrating as a “frustrating one”.

“Unfortunately our hands are tied and there is nothing we can do,” he said.

“It’s encouraging to hear (Premier) Daniel Andrews say regional Victorians might get out early but there is still so much to play out. We’ve cancelled this weekend’s games as a result of what has happened.

“We will be engaging with our clubs over the coming days to discuss fixture options moving forward.”

When Victoria did experience tougher restrictions than its northern counterparts following the last lockdown some competitions elected to move their games north including the Picola and District and Sunraysia leagues.

But neither will follow those options again for this weekend at least.

“Following today’s announcement by the Victorian State Government of a statewide five-day snap lockdown all round 15 matches of the PDFNL are suspended for seven days,” a Picola District spokesperson said in a statement.

“The PDFNL will meet with clubs as soon as possible regarding fixturing for the remainder of the 2021 home and away season and finals series.”

Golden Rivers league officials also said any future plans would be announced in the coming days.

There had been no official announcement from the Ovens and Murray league at the time of writing.