South Bendigo playing-coach Nathan Horbury is confident his young side will make an impact on the BFNL should the league make a belated start to 2020.
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Horbury said the Bloods had trained impressively in the past few weeks and the playing group was ready to bounce back into footy action.
"Don't get me wrong the fitness levels have dropped off a little bit compared to where we were in pre-season,'' Horbury said.
"In March, we were probably the fittest we've been in a long time.
"If a decision is made that we can play then I'm sure we'd be ready to go with another couple of weeks of training under our belt.
"We'd certainly have buy-in from the players. We'd have enough numbers to fill teams for sure.
"The boys are still keen to play, but the uncertainty around it makes it frustrating for everyone. There's nothing the league can do about that and we'll wait for a final decision.
"Hopefully, we get the chance to play."
With other leagues around the region pulling the pin on the 2020 season, Horbury said the Bloods would look at some late recruiting should the BFNL season go ahead.
"We could add a couple of players points wise. We could do with a key forward,'' Horbury said.
"Young Will Allen is back at the club, which is great, but he needs to have hip surgery at some stage this year.
"If the season gets the green light, and the points and salary cap line up, then we could potentially get involved in chasing a key forward.
"We were really happy with the way we were tracking before the start of the season compared to last year."
Read more: BFNL round rewind - 2013
The COVID-19 enforced health and safety regulations have made it difficult for community clubs to run training sessions.
Horbury said the Bloods were doing their best to make the most of a tough situation.
"It's been difficult to get everyone on to Harry Trott Oval,'' he said.
"We've been training in our groups and getting 40-odd senior players to sessions across the week.
"We've spread it out over four nights a week and everyone seems to be handling it okay.
"The extension to 20 players per group has made it easier."
Horbury hasn't had as big a break from football in comparison to his South Bendigo team-mates.
Horbury spent the summer playing in the NTFL in Darwin where he helped Southern Districts to a preliminary final berth.
"We lost the preliminary final which was the week before our last practice match against Lockington, so I consider myself lucky that I had the opportunity to play a few games this year.
"My body feels really fresh now that I've had a break. I'm ready to go and can't wait to get out there.
"It was nice to have a break, but at the same time you realise how much you love it.
"A lot of players used to complain about training, but I don't think that will be happening anymore.
"You realise how much you miss training alongside your mates."
How does a playing-coach spend his Saturdays in winter when there's no footy to take up all of his time?
"My wife Holly and I bought a house in Kennington late last year, so we've been doing some landscaping work around the yard,'' Horbury said.
"That has pretty much taken up my weekends. It's different to how we normally spend our weekends at this time of year. As much as I've enjoyed it, hopefully, that changes soon and we can get back to footy."
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