The River Rats made the decision to withdraw from the competition before the senior competition was officially cancelled, with the club finding participation would simply be too difficult for the season.
Club president Adam Thompson said the club held health concerns.
“There were serious concerns about having people cross between communities,” he said.
“We didn't have confidence in travelling to Shepparton or in Shepparton travelling to play us. When we started to see community transmission increase across the state we didn't want to be regularly travelling.”
While the club withdrew their junior side, there remained discussions about hopefully seeing a number of players take part in a combined team with Shepparton players.
“Some of the juniors were discussing taking part in a mixed side, but the changes to the (NSW) border was the final straw,” Thompson said.
“We have a number of players who make the journey from Moama, and with the 50km rule meaning anyone who travelled to play would have issues when they went back to NSW, the decision was made not to pursue it any further.”
While the club will not play in the competition, teams continue to train together for the time being.
“We've had a few nights of training as a group,” Thompson said.
“There is still a lot to be gained from keeping together as a group, both in a playing sense and in a social sense. We're hoping to continue to train for an extended period.
“It would be great towards the end of the year if restrictions had lifted further. If we get to that position, we would hopefully be able to organise some form of round robin event over a weekend and get some form of play.”
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