Rugby league has become the first major sport in Canberra to cancel the remainder of its 2021 season amid the Territory's Covid enforced lockdown, extended for a further two weeks on Tuesday.
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On another chaotic day for local sport in the capital, Canberra Region Rugby League (CRRL) announced it would not be pursuing an on-field resolution to its junior and senior competitions as Chief Minister Andrew Barr extended the ACT's lockdown to September 17.
The matter of whether premierships will be awarded across the competitions is to be discussed this week by the board, before a determination is made.
Tuesday's announcement puts an end to the Canberra Raiders Cup, the George Tooke Shield and the Katrina Fanning Shield, along with all reserve-grade and aged competitions.
League boss Mark Vergano said public safety and cross-border complications had left the CRRL with no other option.
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"Who's the most vulnerable? Our core constituency - kids through 39 [years old], and they're not vaccinated," Vergano said.
"You start to put other people at risk by running the events potentially. Last year by the time we'd got back we'd been clean for about a month and a half and under the original COVID-19, it was skewed more to the older population.
"Cross border's a killer, 14 days quarantine for anybody who comes in that's not essential. We don't know what that will look like going forward anyway - that's still not knowing what regional NSW are going to do next week because they sure as hell aren't coming out either.
"You're damned if you do, damned if you don't. We all wanted to hold on as long as you could, we had scenarios even until last night.
"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."
The decision follows ACT Rugby Union's move two weeks ago to cancel its junior competitions.
It remains hopeful of resolving its senior season, as do AFL Canberra, Capital Football and Hockey ACT.
AFL Canberra discussed the possibility of a delayed finish with its clubs last week, and agreed to hold out as late as mid October to play a grand final, if possible.
The league won't make a decision on cancelling senior or junior competitions until the ACT Government releases a return to sport roadmap.
Minister Barr, meanwhile, holds grave concerns for the rest of winter sport in the capital.
"I fear that it's going to be very challenging to complete winter sport seasons unless the summer sports are able to start a little bit later to accommodate some end of season activities," Barr said.
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
