The make-up of Football Wagga's women's competitions this year was to be a major topic at a meeting with clubs on Tuesday night after Leeton and Cootamundra requested they be demoted from first grade.
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The unavailability of some players due to school commitments made more difficult by the coronavirus crisis has been cited as one of the main reasons behind the clubs' desire to drop into the second grade Madden Cup.
Cootamundra and Leeton finished second-last and last respectively on last year's first grade table, and their demotion would leave just five teams in the Leonard Cup.
But Football Wagga president Tony Dobbin said putting all senior female teams in the one grade would be one of the options discussed as the game works toward a mid-July kick-off.
"It's an option, but it's not the only option. We just want to make sure we have an opportunity for the ladies to play, and make it meaningful," Dobbin said.
"There seems to be a lot of clubs relying on high school students to play in first and second grades, and with school having being out a few have said they need to focus on school.
"We'll go through it with the clubs and what they've come forward with is logical and understandable.
"But it would take it (Leonard Cup) down to five (teams), and the issue we then face is the viability of Leonard as a stand alone competition."
Junee has also confirmed they have aborted their plan to return to the men's Pascoe Cup first grade competition.
Dobbin said they are still at least a few days away from working on a season draw, which will be largely decided by what the majority of clubs want.
But finals will certainly be part of the schedule this year after players voted overwhelmingly in favour of staging a post-season.
"After our meeting the board will look over suggestions and submit some options to clubs," Dobbin said.
"The question of finals came up, and everyone wants something to play for. We play football for a reason, it gives everyone something to focus on.
"What the finals look like, whether it's a grand final straight away or two or four weeks of finals, that's all part of the mix.
"It (season) has got to have meaning. If someone's paid registration fees they're not just there to kick a ball around, they can do that whenever they want.
"They're there for a purpose. When you play team sports round after round there's always an objective, whether it's to win the premiership or win the grudge match against your main rival.
"The absentees would start to roll in very quickly (without finals), and the strong push is to have them."
Dobbin confirmed some non-Wagga teams including Hanwood, Leeton and Cootamundra, can now return to training if they wish under social distancing rules, given they control their own grounds.
But aside from South Wagga, who are based at the showgrounds and operate under different owners, Wagga teams are awaiting clearance of their return to play guidelines from council.
"Each club can now decide if they want to commence training, but make sure they're set up to follow guidelines," Dobbin said.
"We've approached the council on behalf of the other Wagga clubs to ask if they can go back to training."
