MORE than 300 young Saints are 'champing at the bit' for their chance to do battle in the blue and white if Group 10 Junior Rugby League gets the green light for season 2020.
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Group 10 JRL officials are planning for an eight-week plus finals format to start on July 18 should the coronavirus situation continue to improve.
That proposed return to play date is one which has St Pat's JRLFC president Tony England and all those involved with his club excited.
"We've got a lot of boys and girls really champing at the bit to get out there and play the sport, so to be able to have a prospective date at the moment is a really good thing," he said.
"We had a couple of teams in a few of the age groups, I think at our last count with the boys' tackle and the girls' league tag we were looking at 18-20 teams."
Since the news broke that the season would be put on hold due to the virus, the Saints have worked hard to try and build some sort of camaraderie.
They have done so via so their Facebook page.
"We are very aware there are a lot of kids and parents out there feeling a bit lost without footy because that's their go to," England said.
"I pity a lot of the parents because they've had to try and occupy these kids who are used to playing football and spending their days running around a football paddock.
"So by pushing the Facebook page, making sure they know we're still out there and we're feeling the same way they do and want to get back to the sport has very much been a conscious effort."
One team of Saints even formed their own Facebook group to help keep each other motivated - the players who won the under 13s premiership last season in an extra-time thriller against Mudgee.
They will step up into under 14s this season.
"I've heard chatter about how keen they are so I think come the dates when we are all allowed to train again, we'll have a full roster of boys, they are all keen to defend their premiership," England said.
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"We'll have two teams in the 14s, we'll have the Pat's White team who will be the premiership boys from last year and the Blue team who missed out on a grand final berth by one game. In that age group we are still looking very strong.
"There's no discounting Mudgee, they are an extremely strong side and let's not forget that grand final loss was the first lost that team has had in quite a few years. So they are still not a team to be discounted.
"Nothing worse that a wounded Dragon, but our boys are very keen to get out there and play Mudgee in particular."
