NSWRL and Group 10 Juniors are still pushing on with plans for a 2020 season to commence in July. The proposed format for Group 10 includes an eight week competition, with no byes, plus two weeks of finals.

For Mudgee Junior League's minis (ages six to nine), they play entirely locally, but are looking at the same time-frame to return.

Sevens coach Ross Tindall said the youngsters are keen to get to it. Especially with restrictions arriving during their preparation and just out from the Eglinton junior carnival - an opportunity to take on their counterparts from beyond the region.

"The boys are pumped, they want to get back into it and everyone is ready to go," he said.

"We'd already started training when the restrictions were brought in, so we'd gotten two/three weeks in.

"Then they were brought in just before the Eglinton carnival was due to happen. Which was a shame, because the boys love going down there and playing the teams from outside town."

The club is hopeful of running their minis carnival, that substitutes for the finals for those ages, which Tindall said is the "highlight of our year".

The event is usually slated for the second week of the Group 10 junior finals, but like with everything COVID-19, nothing can be locked in yet due to continuing changes to guidelines for gatherings.

Although they did get another highlight of the season, when the Charity Shield was held at Glen Willow.

"The 6s and the 7s got to meet the players and at halftime they headed out and played - they thought they were first graders. It's under lights and in front of the big crowd, who get right behind them and the boys put on a show for them," Tindall said.

A shortened season would be better than none. And with the NRL back, footy would again be at the forefront of many young players' minds - as if it wasn't already.

"They'd play all day, all year around if they could," Tindall said.