THE light towers that shone brightly above football grounds and netball courts on Thursday night symbolised the hope that there may still be a Bendigo Football-Netball League season in 2020.

While football grounds have lay dormant since the the 2020 season was put on hiatus in mid-March and all training suspended due to the coronavirus pandemic, the first step in a potential return for leagues that are still yet to rule a line through the year is under way with training now permitted again.

Albeit vastly modified under AFL Victoria guidelines that at this stage only allow for two separated groups of 10 on an oval completing non-contact drills, with players turning up already in their footy gear ready to get stuck into training given changerooms are off limits.

Some Bendigo league clubs returned to the training track this week, while others are holding off until next week.

The Addy this week spoke to all 10 BFNL clubs about how they are approaching their return to football training ahead of a season that may or may not go ahead.

The Magpies had hoped to be able to return to training this week, but are still awaiting approval from the Mount Alexander Shire.

One of AFL Victoria's return to training guidelines is that clubs must have approvals from their local government to access ovals.

"We've got an application in and we're still awaiting approval from the shire as it's working on protocols relating to the return of sport," Magpies coach Don Moran said on Wednesday.

"We still don't have clearance from the shire, so we're in a bit of a holding pattern.

"Once we get all the boxes ticked that we need to then we'll get into it."

The Hawks returned to the training track at Canterbury Park on Tuesday night, opting to split their list across four groups - two which train from 5.30pm, before being replaced by the other two for a 6.30pm session.

"We're going with the Tuesday and Thursday nights, which is what it would have been at this time of the year normally," coach Travis Matheson said.

"We had 39 on the track split across the 5.30pm and 6.30pm groups on our first night back.

"The challenge is if you've got some guys who can't make it because of work of are running late you might only end up with a group of six that you can't do much with, but, hopefully, it won't be too much longer before we can start getting back into some bigger groups.

"We did a bit of conditioning and then skill work... it was very basic where we tried to keep moving and touch the footy as much as we could.

"At this point in time we're not delving into gameplans or tactics, we're just getting some kms into our legs and getting some touch with the footys."

The Bulldogs will resume training next week under new coach Rob Waters.

"We'll be back into it next Tuesday. The club is making sure it's got all its protocols right and approval from the council," Waters said.

"There's no competitive work or contact, so we'll do as much as we can and it's going to be really good to be able to get the boys back together in their groups of 10.

"We'll slowly work on getting the fitness back up and treat it with the belief that we'll be playing... hopefully, we will be.

"At this stage we'll be Tuesday and Thursday and working in with the other clubs given we've only got two grounds, but ourselves, the Super Rules, Gisborne Juniors, Gisborne Giants Juniors and women's as well, so there's a bit to get through in terms of time on grounds.

"So we're all just working through that at the moment."

For those who want to, the Bulldogs will run non-compulsory training sessions from next week, with a view to ramping up their preparation once restrictions are eased to allow for bigger groups.

"For those who choose to train, we will have optional sessions next week," president Brendan Stewart said.

"So we're not just going gung-ho and jumping straight back into it.

"We understand there will be an announcement soon regarding training groups of 20 and we haven't yet got a season start, so we're not getting ahead of ourselves."

The Roos hopped straight back into training on Tuesday night at Dower Park.

"We had two groups of 10 on Tuesday night and another two groups of 10 on Thursday night," coach James Flaherty said.

"Each group is training once a week, so group one and two are the Tuesday and group three and four are the Thursday and it's mainly about getting the boys back around each other.

"Half of the session is based around fitness and the other half is focused on skill work within the limits of what you can and can't do.

"It was good to be back out training, but it was a bit weird in that you've got the 1.5m distancing, so there's not a lot you can do.

"So it's about creating a good atmosphere and having a bit of fun while you're out there.

"It was cold, the footys were out, the lights were on, so it was good to get that taste for it again."

The Tigers are holding off a return to training until next week to ensure they have ticked off on all the AFL Victoria protocols.

"The club wants to be super comfortable that it has all bases covered, but we have our training plans in place and they will kick off next week," coach Nathan Thompson said.

"The players got together in some small groups this week and went for a bit of a run, which was good to see.

"I think it's going to be tough to run training sessions with what is in place at the moment in terms of only groups of 10 and not being allowed in the rooms, but we'll work through it.

"We've got to make a start in some capacity because we just don't know what's going to happen from a league perspective, so we're taking the glass half-full approach.

"What we're going to do is split up into four rotations with different arrival points. We'll have two groups training on the oval, another group off the oval doing a bootcamp style fitness session, and another group going on a longer run.

"We'll run 30 minute rotations of each group with a five minute break in between, which will give the players a chance to sanetise and do what needs to be done with the players health at the front of mind."

Having received approval from the Central Goldfields council to return to Princes Park, the Magpies will hit the training track next Wednesday.

"We've put together a video that the players have to watch relating to the protocols and once they've notified the secretary they have watched it they will be able to return to train," president Brendan Roughead said.

"The players who are travelers will probably have to still train on their own, but those in the local area will want to get going as much as they can... the players are really keen and that's a positive sign."

The Dragons won't hold any sanctioned training until restrictions allow for increased group numbers.

"We felt with the groups of 10 it was probably hard to manage and to be honest, our guys are doing really well at the moment with their own training in small groups," coach Ash Connick said.

"It's fairly unanimous that, as keen as we are to get back into it, we'll wait until the restrictions ease up a bit and we can get a bigger number together. Until then we'll continue doing what we have been doing."

The Bloods returned to the training track at Harry Trott Oval this week with two groups on Monday and Wednesday and another two on Tuesday and Thursday.

"We've gone back and feel it's worthwhile for a couple of reasons," president Alan Ellis said.

"Firstly, the players have been missing training and we're aware of the benefits of just getting out and participating among their mates.

"The other part is even if we don't have a season, we think it's important that we keep the group together with an eye to next year.

"We've divided the list into four groups, so we've got two groups of 10 training on a Monday and Wednesday and the other two training on a Tuesday and Thursday, with the groups being taken by the leaders of our club in Nathan Horbury (coach), Kaiden Antonowicz, Zac Hare and Brody Haddow.

"I was talking to Cam Taggert the other day who was saying it was just good to get back out among the blokes and have a kick and a chat, so that was good to hear."

The reigning premier Storm were back on deck this week, utilising both their main oval and second oval at Tannery Lane, allowing for four groups of 10.

"We're training Tuesday and Thursday and at this stage we're treating it as an informal, social opportunity," co-coach Darryl Wilson said.

"It was just a bit of a general kick around and getting some touches of the footy, but the main part of getting back is it's good for the playing group as far as the social engagement.

"So we thought it was important not so much for the footy side of it, but more for the boys to get themselves back around each other and engaged."

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