GAME DAYS FACE MAJOR CHANGE

A SHOULDER injury ruled him out of last season. Coronavirus has kept him off the field this season.

Needless to say, Burdekin rugby captain Kieran Kerr is desperate to get on the park.

While no final decisions have been made yet, the regional club can begin planning a return to training after the State Government announced an accelerated comeback for community sport with groups of 20 now able to gather.

Kerr said they would need time to be able to practice physical rugby union before the competition resumes or risk the potential for injuries after an extended lay-off.

“We’ve got the group going and trying to keep everyone a bit excited. (There’s) a couple of personal trainers in the team, which has helped the group with ways to improve fitness,” Kerr said.

“The first couple of weeks can be difficult after a long break, so you want a couple of weeks of contact training before coming back otherwise you open up (the risk of) injuries.”

A typical home game in Ayr draws massive crowds to watch the juniors through to the A-grade senior side, however this will not be the case in 2020.

Guidelines regarding social distancing will mean a maximum of 100 people will be able to be at Casalegno Field at once.

It will also mean changes to how the teams travel to away games such as at Charters Towers, where Kerr said plenty of people would often make the trip.

He said part of the regional club experience was having the seniors support the juniors, but they would adapt to ensure the sport gets back to play.

“I guess we’ll just have to take an approach you’re only there for warm-up and game and then you move on.

“It’ll be disappointing … but in this environment we’ll get out there and not complain too much with everything else going on.”