AFL Riverina sent a memorandum to all clubs who have qualified for finals series this week. It effectively stated any more than a week's extension of lockdown would result in the cancellation of the season, with no premierships awarded.

The board decided September 19 would be the final cut-off date to complete the season, allowing for one more week of delays should government restrictions intervene, which has been met by strong opposition from clubs.

The initial plan was to hold knockout semi finals next weekend, before grand finals on September 11 and 12.

Other leagues such as the Hume League, rugby league's Group Nine and Football Wagga have proposed to play as late as mid-October if needed.

AFL Riverina chairman Michael Irons defended the mid-September deadline this week.

"We have always wrapped our season up by the third weekend of September. Last year we only extended our junior competitions to the last weekend of September and that was because we did not clash with the AFL grand final," Irons said.

"The advice that we have received is that the AFL grand final will be on the last Saturday of September and that is not something we have ever wanted to clash with.

"It is also a matter of how long do you extend for, taking into consideration the time that players of all grades may have had off and their welfare of returning to contact sport.

"We've got to make a decision for all clubs and across four competitions to get a resolution. It was the board's view that we need to make a decision now and set a timeline instead of creating further uncertainty."

Some club leaders, including Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong president Jason Hamblin, questioned the need for the early deadline date.

"I don't believe the league should be putting and end date on it, I disagree on that," he said.

"I said to them to put footy on hiatus for three weeks instead of putting the guesswork in.

"If other codes are playing in October and we don't get a result, if everything gets lifted and goes back to normal, (it's not ideal).

"At the end of the day I'm pretty confident volunteers of the teams left in the finals just won't throw their hands in the air and call it quits. We could get people from outside to do catering so you're not putting stress on them.

"Narrandera hasn't got a cricket pitch, Maher Oval doesn't either, it's only Robertson Oval you have to worry about.

"I feel they've painted themselves into the corner with an end date."

- More to come

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