The Goulburn Dirty Reds' season has not yet been called off, despite the extended lockdowns announced by the NSW government last week.
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ACT Rugby has said the latest possible date on which a grand final can be held is October 16, which leaves Goulburn Rugby Union needing the statewide lockdown to end as scheduled on September 10 if they are to have a chance of claiming another premiership.
"That gives us a month-and-a-half from now," Dirty Reds president, Jackson Reardon, said.
"The restrictions have to lift on the 10th, and ACT would have to be lifted by then. We have to have two weeks training, minimum, under Rugby Australia guidelines, and then they'd play a shortened finals series of either three weeks or two weeks."
In the two weeks since the ACT and NSW lockdowns were introduced, ACT Rugby has been hard at work coming up with a plan to continue the competition if possible.
Reardon acknowledged the work they have done, and said the club appreciates the effort they've put in to try and bring the season to a meaningful close.
The Dirty Reds finished on top of the ACT First Division First Grade ladder, having gone undefeated throughout 2021.
Although they had a convoluted year and only played nine completed matches prior to finals, Reardon said it would be a shame to see such a strong year come to an anticlimactic end.
"This is one of the best teams I've ever played in for the club and we've been lucky enough to win a few premierships," he said.
"I hope we get the chance to play finals, and if not I hope we can get the same team together next year because it's one of the best teams Goulburn rugby's put together if I'm honest."
Should the lockdowns continue and the season be called off, ACT Rugby will award minor premierships to the teams who finished in first place instead of full-fledged premierships, which Reardon thinks is a good idea.
"To be honest, I think that's the right thing to do," he said.
"I don't think any of our guys would be upset with that, I don't think anyone would want to say 'we won the premiership' when they never got to play finals."
In anticipation of a potential finals series, the Dirty Reds are working hard to stay fit during lockdown. As luck would have it, a number of the players have home gyms, and those who don't have kept busy by running.
Though the side's fitness will no doubt be impacted by a lack of matchplay, Reardon believes that will be the case for the majority of the competition.
"I think the lockdown will have an impact on everyone," he said.
"Everyone's trying to do a little bit to keep some fitness, and if we get the go-ahead it'll be two weeks of pretty long sessions, we might even try to do three sessions a week to get a bit of fitness in.
"I think most guys and the girls have a Strava running club going, and there's plenty of people getting into that."
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