ACT Health will not be considering exemption requests for non-residents coming from greater Sydney, except in extreme extenuating circumstances to put W-League and ABL games in doubt.

The ACT Brumbies have called players back to Canberra so they will be ready for their return to training on January 4. Scott Sio and Folau Fainga'a are preparing to train together in quarantine after returning from Sydney, while Nick Frost had one day at home with family before rushing back to the capital.

The Canberra Raiders' senior group returned for training on Monday, kicking off a three-day testing blitz before being given a short break until January 7.

Any players who had planned to spend Christmas with family in Sydney or surrounding areas will now need to stay in Canberra or be forced to miss a chunk of pre-season training.

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Canberra Racing Club officials will turn away horses, trainers and jockeys at their December 29 meeting if they are based in areas cut off by the ACT government.

The Canberra Cavalry's six games against the Sydney Blue Sox, scheduled for Blacktown and Narrabundah from December 28-January 3 are in doubt.

So too are the opening rounds of Canberra United's W-League season. They are supposed to play in Perth on December 28, and then host Sydney FC on January 3.

"We're not sure, things are in flux at the moment. There are a lot of meetings going on," United coach Vicki Linton said.

"Obviously there are big impacts for the league. They're trying to work through all that to try get teams playing and not lose time on this. There's a lot to work through so we're waiting.

"We need to be prepared for what's going to happen, so if they change the draw quite a bit, that changes things. We need to be ready."

Linton admits it would have been easy for her players to drop their heads having drawn so close to a game only for the start of the season to be thrown into disarray.

"As a coach I'm really pleased with how they are managing and dealing with this, because it's obviously fairly upsetting in some ways," Linton said.

"A lot have family in Sydney and that's where they would have been spending Christmas, that's no longer a possibility. Significant changes and sacrifice for players and staff.

"The players have worked hard so you want that reward of a match. The uncertainty had the potential to throw that a little bit, but they're in a really good space.

"They're really looking forward to and are focused on that first game, [wherever] it may be ... they're ready."