James Treweeke expects 2020 to be one extreme or the other if an AFL North West season goes ahead.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
The New England Nomads could be a premiership contender again or they could struggle to get enough players to field a team each week.
The strength of the New England Nomads lineup depends heavily on whether face-to-face teaching returns to the University of New England.
A number of the team's university students have returned home while classes are being run online.
READ ALSO:
"Before everything shut down, we had roughly a 50-50 split [of players from town and university]," Treweeke said.
"At the higher end, we probably still have 15-16 blokes around [Armidale].
"When it comes down to it, a few [players] might come back anyway and if anything changes for the good, uni could open back up for the second trimester."
Of those players in town include a couple footballers who have returned to the fold.
"There's still a few boys here like Tommy Hunt and Phil Mitchell - it really helps having them," Treweeke said.
"Tommy came back in the last half of last year after he'd taken a few years off with work commitments.
"I think he saw the performances at the end of last year and saw we had a group that could hopefully go one step further."
A number of other ex-players had also been training with the group for fitness but Treweeke said he might attempt to get them to pull on the boots.
"I'm sure if it came down to it this year and we put a call out, a few boys who have been pent up at home might come back and play," Treweeke said.
