The Canberra Region Rugby League junior season was officially called off today, following an agreement from regional clubs not to participate in the finals.
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According to a CRRL statement released at 11am, COVID-19 still posed to great a risk to be able to run a finals series in the foreseeable future.
"The League and the clubs explored every avenue in an attempt to hold a finals series after the premature end to the regular season," the CRRL said.
"However, they decided that the on-going safety of the players, match officials, volunteers and supporters in the current health emergency could not be guaranteed under the existing health orders.
"The CRRL and the clubs understand this will be of a great disappointment to the many children who were looking forward to playing a finals series, however there is a social responsibility and a duty of care to ensure that all our great rugby league players and supporters are safe and supportive of the community's and governments' attempts, on both sides of the border, to lessen potential virus exposure for everyone."
There is currently no decision on how premierships will be decided, but the CRRL promised an update in that regard soon.
Goulburn Junior Stockmen president, Matt Cowling, said the continual extension of the lockdowns in both the ACT and NSW had led the club to expect the season to be called off.
"It's not surprising at all," Cowling said.
"We had a Zoom meeting last night with all the clubs, and we came to the realisation that it was unrealistic. We've got two different governments we're dealing with, the ACT government and the NSW government, so they would both have to lift their restrictions for us to play and let us go to Canberra or let them come to NSW.
"The big thing is, a lot of the regional clubs weren't too happy about going to Canberra if there were still cases there. They didn't want to be the people to bring it back to the regional area.
"So Yass were the first ones to say 'We won't participate in the semis', and the CRRL said if there's one out, we're all out. They can't run a comp if everyone's not going to be there."
Many of the Goulburn junior teams had put in strong performances throughout 2021.
The Under 16s, Under 14s Blue, Under 14s Maroon, and Under 10s Blue sides all came through the regular season undefeated.
- Also read: Bowral Classic 2021 postponed to December
Though Cowling understood that some of the Stockmen sides may be dismayed to miss out on a potential premiership after their excellent performances, he said the focus for the club was protecting the health of the Goulburn community.
"It is disappointing, but we've all got to get through this together," Cowling said.
"It's important to us, but it's not everything. If we bring COVID-19 back here, it's terrible for Goulburn. We don't want to be the sport that brings the coronavirus back to Goulburn."
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