GAMEPLANS and structures are the least of the concerns for Golden Square senior coach Bernie Haberman following the delaying of the football season.

Rather, Haberman's main priority is ensuring his club remains socially connected while AFL Central Victoria recommends all clubs across its region cease football and netball activities until April 1 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

In what's a constantly evolving situation, AFL Central Victoria issued a statement on Tuesday morning announcing the delays of the Bendigo, Bendigo Junior, Central Victorian Women, Heathcote District, Loddon Valley and North Central league seasons to the first weekend in May.

However, by the end of Tuesday the AFL had "strongly" recommended all senior and junior leagues be postponed until May 31 in line with the delays to the state leagues and national state talent programs, including the NAB League and VFL, plus Auskick programs.

AFLCV will release further information in response to the AFL's May 31 start recommendation "when our leagues have had the opportunity to consult with their members".

But while it will be up to the individual leagues to determine their start dates, AFLCV will recommend the competitions to follow the AFL's May 31 timeframe.

"They are run by their own boards, so they (the leagues) can make their own decisions, but being aligned with the AFL we'd be recommending they fall in line with May 31," AFLCV regional manager Carol Cathcart said on Wednesday.

In the meantime, all AFLCV clubs have been recommended to go into hibernation and cease all football-netball activities, which includes training and practice matches, until April 1, with that date to be subject to further direction by the government and AFL.

For Golden Square's Haberman - who is gearing up for his fourth year as coach of the Bulldogs - his major concern during the club hiatus surrounds the social connectivity of his players.

"At some level social connectivity and being with people is really healthy. And so one of the things that comes with being isolated is I worry about people's mental health and their physical health," Haberman said..

"I'm not worried about my gameplan, I'm not worried about winning, I'm worried about those other things around social connection.

"We will be following the recommendations and certainly won't be training as a group, so how we stay united and together will be something we have to work through; whether we give players programs to do on their own or in smaller groups...

"One of the biggest challenges though is it's such a changing landscape... can four or five guys get together and have a kick of the footy or will they be stopped from that?"

The Bulldogs were due to kick off their practice match program this weekend against Goulburn Valley league side Seymour.

"We obviously won't be playing that game, but we've been doing match simulation since we started back in January, so I'm not overly concerned by that," Haberman said.

"My biggest focus is making sure we stay engaged with each other, whether it's through social media, webinars or three or four blokes just getting together as mates and having a kick of the footy."

New Kangaroo Flat coach James Flaherty said the Roos were deciding how to push forward during the training hiatus with either individual or small group programs.

"The only thing we can do is come up with some programs that either small groups can do together or if we do them individually and communicate that electronically via Facebook and messages and the like," Flaherty said.

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"It obviously makes it hard because we all need to be together and on the same page to get the club heading back in the right direction and a lot of onus will now come back on to the individuals.

"Hopefully, if we've put the right standards in place over the past three or four months they will understand what's required and when we get back going there will be a bit more drive and hunger in not taking footy for granted perhaps."

Sandhurst president Chris Greene said the Dragons would continue to take guidance from AFL Central Victoria.

"We've said to our footballers and netballers to not come to training until further notice," Greene said.

"We've cancelled everything and off the field one of my biggest concerns is how can we service our sponsors while we are on hiatus, so we're still trying to work out how we can best do that and keep the club alive.

"As a club we'll just try to get through it the best way we can, but it's just such an evolving, unique situation that we are all dealing with.

"As far as our players and members go, we hope they all stay fit and healthy and that when we come back they are ready to go."

At Gisborne, president John Wood says the Bulldogs are "hoping for the best, but preparing for the worst" in terms of how the 2020 BFNL season will play out given the constant changing landscape.

"What is happening is out of our control and we're applying the adage of just controlling what we can control," Wood said.

"We're being guided as each day comes through information from AFL Central Victoria and we will adapt accordingly.

"The players have had a strong pre-season and have the base there, but if we can find some positive out of this, what a delay means is it could allow some players who are coming off injuries to potentially not miss any games.

"We've got guys like Jack Scanlon, Jack Reaper and Jaidyn Owen who are quality players who wouldn't have been ready for the start of the season, but all of a sudden they now have a bit of extra time.

"But I really feel for the board and AFLCV personnel at this time because it's such a changing situation and they are relying on guidance from above them."

Meanwhile, the BFNL has postponed its season launch set for April 3.

WHEN WERE LEAGUES SCHEDULED TO START:

Bendigo - Good Friday, April 10.

Heathcote District - White Hills v Mount Pleasant season-opener on March 28, followed by round one on April 4.

Loddon Valley - April 4.

North Central - April 18.

AFLCV Women - April 5.

Bendigo Juniors - Weekend of April 17-18-19.

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