The Maitland Blacks will cancel training for senior and junior teams this week and postpone their official season launch in a strong preemptive move to address the threat of coronavirus.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The move was announced in a statement posted on the club's Facebook page on Sunday afternoon and followed the decision by Maitland Junior Rugby Club to cancel the Tony Cant/Wiz Golledge Gala Day which had been scheduled for the weekend.
"After closely monitoring the latest developments with the Covid-19 pandemic and taking advice from rugby authorities and our medical team we believe it in the best interests of our Rugby Family to cancel usual training for this coming week for both our senior and junior teams," Blacks president Pat Howard said.
"Unfortunately, the season launch that was proposed for next Sunday will also be postponed until further notice.
"We are afforded the opportunity to exercise this approach as we have two weeks until the competition starts, and we would prefer to take a proactive stance on this rather than be reactive after the fact.
"If by meaning that we ultimately miss two training sessions to ensure the health of our members, then this decision has been made.
"We will certainly be continuing to monitor this situation and seek advice moving forward. We will revisit this decision later this coming week where I am hopeful we can resume training as normal on Monday, March 23.
