NCFL - Board to again consider finals dates in wake of latest Victorian lockdown

LVFNL - Gadsden concedes lockdown delay could skittle Bears from finals race

Spike in regional COVID-19 cases forces community sport cancellation

THE North Central Football League's finals dates may require a further reshuffle in the wake of the regional Victorian lockdown.

The NCFL has already changed the length of its finals series from its traditional four weeks to three and delayed its starting date from the original August 21 to September 4.

Those initial finals changes were made in response to the unavailability of Melbourne-based players.

However, with regional Victoria now back in another lockdown until at least 11.59pm on Thursday, September 2, the league board will again meet to re-visit its finals dates given the impact of teams not being able to train during the lockdown period.

If the lockdown ends on time, the league could proceed with its freshly-altered finals timeline of the second semi-final on September 4 at Donald, first semi-final on September 5 at Sea Lake, preliminary final on September 11 at Charlton and grand final on September 18 at Wycheproof.

However, NCFL chairman Tim Lockhart said teams preparation time would need to be taken into account given there's no training during lockdown, while minor premier Sea Lake Nandaly hasn't played a game since July 10 due to a combination of abandoned rounds and both Donald and Wycheproof-Narraport forfeiting against it.

"As a board we'll have to get together again and look at the situation and whether we go ahead with starting the finals on September 4... a lot will depend on training," Lockhart said on Saturday.

The NCFL has always been open throughout the year to pushing its grand final back to AFL grand final weekend if necessary, which would provide two options - either the Sunday (September 26) or utilising the public holiday Friday (September 24).

"It's obviously a changing landscape and it's all up in the air. We'll meet again and also see what is happening with other leagues, but it may not matter if we were to all play our grand finals on the same weekend if there are no crowds," Lockhart said.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: