The Moree Boars were prepared to play in 2020 but "common sense prevailed" after Group 4 cancelled the season, says the club's first-grade coach Matthew Ryan, with the former NRL star looking to next season with great excitement.
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Ryan has been buoyed by the club's player numbers and "positive environment" post-lockdown, as well as improvements to their home ground.
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After a number of lean years, the future seems to be bright for an organisation that returned to Group 4 this year after a years spent in Group 19.
Ryan - who played 95 games for Canterbury and nine games for North Queensland in nine seasons - said Moree was "ready to go either way" this year.
"We were happy to play. Our players were ready to go ... But at the end the day, I think common sense prevailed, because there's just no guarantees at the moment and there's just too much uncertainty."
Abandoning the season was the "smart option", he said.
Pre-lockdown, Ryan said Moree had up 70 players assembled across the four grades. "And that's the first time it's been like that for a long time.
"And they were a good bunch of people, too ... they come down, no whinging, no complaining - it was just a really good environment, a really positive environment".
Ryan can see no impediment to that atmosphere being duplicated in 2021, especially given the overhaul of the Boars' playing surface, a fence being erected around the field and a clubhouse being built.
"I think the guys and girls were disappointed [2020 was cancelled]," he said, "because they could see what was building, they could see the players who were there, and a lot of the guys were really keen."
