PANTHER cubs are crossing their claws and young Saints are praying that come the weekend of September 18-19, they will be running into battle with boots on and mouth guards in.
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That is the weekend which the Group 10 Junior Rugby League board has targeted to resume its finals series for league tag and tackle teams.
Before the region was thrust into COVID-19 lockdown on the evening of August 14, the first week of finals in all junior competitions were completed.
Seven Bathurst Panthers sides remain in contention - the under 11, under 13 and under 16 league tag teams plus under 11, 12, 13 and 16 tackle outfits.
As for St Pat's the under 16s, and under 15 blue and under 12 blue tackle outfits plus under 13s tag side survived.
But Group 10 JRL's two-week plan for the remainder of the finals series hinges on lockdown being lifted by September 11-12 for all local government areas involved.
If all involved clubs are not able to travel by then Group 10 JRL says "it would mean our season will be finished for 2021."
"We cannot keep pushing our season back, we need to have some clarity about the end date," the board said in a statement.
"We also need to take into consideration, the safety of all our players, coaching staff and spectators. We also have a responsibility to the broader community. If lockdown was to finish earlier, the above dates will still apply.
"As we all know, everything seems to change daily. For these games to go ahead, it would be dependent on all LGAs in Group 10 to be able to travel."
If play does resume it will be with sudden-death semi-finals with a one versus four, two versus three format. For tackle they will be played in Blayney on September 18, for tag September 19 at Wallerawang.
The victors advance to grand finals, with tackle to be played at Mudgee on September 25 and tag at Bathurst's Carrington Park on September 26.
Group 10 JRL said those venues could change depending on availability and now it's now a matter of "stay home, stay safe and let's hope we can play some footy finals."
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