THERE will be no changes to the Group Three Junior Rugby League competition despite new COVID-19 restrictions issued this week by NSW Health.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Group Three JRL president Warren Blissett said he has received confirmation from the NSWRL that the season can proceed. NSWRL officials met with NSW Health on Tuesday to clarify the situation.
Mr Blissett said there will be a clamp down on the parents attending matches.
"There's only going to be one parent at a game per child where the child needs supervision,'' Mr Blissett said.
"I know that's going to upset some people but they're the rules and we will abide by them.''
Group Two clubs Coffs Harbour, Macksville and Bowraville play in the under 16 and under 18 grades this year by invitation. However, Mr Blissett explained there's no barrier to those teams continuing their involvement because both groups are under the East Coast Bulldogs Region umbrella.
He said COVID-19 concerns had impacted on player numbers right through the grades.
"There were a lot of families unsure of what was going to happen. We expected that,'' Mr Blissett continued.
He added that Port Macquarie Sharks have withdrawn from the under 18s for what he described as a 'variety of reasons.'
RELATED:
Despite these problems Mr Blissett said all the grades have been competitive. The season-proper will continue until September 12 with four team semi-finals in grades from under 10s to 18s and girl's league tag to start the following weekend. League tag games are played on Friday nights.
Grand finals will be on Friday September 25 (league tag to be played at the Jack Neal Oval), Saturday September 26 (boy's grades under 10s to 13s at the Port Macquarie Regional Stadium) and Sunday September 26 (under 14s to 18s at Wingham Sporting Complex).
