Forwards create the space for the backs to score the points in rugby league and rugby union while the roles are reversed in football and Aussie Rules.

Batsmen have to score the runs while bowlers take the wickets in cricket.

The comparisons can continue with your favourite code, but overall it's a team effort and everyone contributes.

It's no different when it comes to COVID-19, the Port Macquarie-Hastings community and the future of sport in the region according to Dr Andriy Boyko.

Dr Boyko has many years of experience working in the emergency departments of Port Macquarie, Wauchope and Kempsey Base hospitals.

He is currently also undertaking a specialist training program with the Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Medicine.

While it looks unlikely the winter codes will get any play in, Dr Boyko says we still all have a role to play as the coronavirus pandemic tightens its grip on the world's health.

"I don't think (winter) seasons will restart this year and I can be wrong and I'll be very happy if I'm wrong, but that will depend how we act as a community now," he said.

"The way this is playing out, I would think the seasons will be ceased until next year and the reason is basically the natural course of the virus."

While many believe the coronavirus crisis will peak in June or July, Dr Boyko preferred not to put a timeframe on it, instead putting the ball firmly in the community's court.

"I wouldn't be putting a date on this because it is so dependent on how we respond as a community," he said.

"The date in terms of safety is variant on what we do so I wouldn't be making any predictions; it's so fluid and changes day by day."

Dr Boyko said the best way to slow the spread of the virus was to self-isolate and keep good personal hygiene, stating there is no such thing as too much hand washing.

"I know pharmacies are out of aqua gels and alcohol rubs, but normal everyday soap is enough before touching food, after touching food, before contact with another person and after contact," he said.

"There's no such thing as too much hand washing."

The sooner community's start to self-isolate and social distance, the sooner sport can return to the fields.

"I'm involved in a local football club, so every club - like every small business - is going to feel the financial pressures," he said.

"The only way that those pressures are going to ease is as a community we follow the advice that has been put forward - then the economy can bounce back quicker."

Not being able to physically see the threat was why the coronavirus was so destructive, but Dr Boyko said it had already been worse than the bushfire crisis that enveloped the nation at the end of last year.

"When we say something is a threat and we can see and feel it, it's real," he said.

"Unfortunately, this virus is an invisible threat and therefore people don't feel threatened by it, but looking at the numbers it's already taken more lives in Australia than the fires have.

"I think we need to take it seriously, treat it like a fire and don't walk around lighting matches."

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