NEW South Wales Touch Association general manager Dean Russell will look back on the 2019 NSW State Cup as the event which was the most challenging one to get through yet.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Smoky starts for all three days meant all matches except finals had to be played under a different format, but Russell was pleased that not a single match was lost due to the restructured tournament.
Air quality concerns required matches to be delayed for an hour and then switched to two halves of 12 minutes with a three-minute halftime break throughout days one and two.
Conditions improved enough on day three to the point where normal "turnaround" touch football returned.
"It's probably the toughest one we've had to deliver mainly because we had to try and judge the air quality conditions," Russell said.
"We had access to the indexes and air rating measuring tools, but they weren't real-time accurate so it was a matter of trying to mix all the information we could get together to come up with decisions."
While the general manager was happy with the decisions that were made, he did acknowledge the restructure did take away an element of what the tournament is well-known for.
"Personally, I wasn't happy with the different format because I like the fact that the State Cup should be a really hard and tough event to win," Russell said.
"Natural attrition should play a part to bring teams in.
"Everyone was really understanding; while people might have had differing views, they all understood why we were making the decisions we were making and everyone got on with it."
Russell admitted past experiences with "monsoonal rain" and high temperatures meant organisers were well-equipped with running the event under a different format.
"I think that held us in good stead," he said.
"We've never dealt with anything like this before; I don't think any sport in Australia really has had to deal with the issues that are currently facing everybody across the state.
"It highlighted to us things we need to put in place for the future if this ever occurred again."
What else is happening in sport?
While you're with us, you can now receive updates straight to your inbox from the Port Macquarie News. To make sure you're up to date with all the news, SIGN UP HERE.
