The Sharks struggled early in the Group Three Junior Rugby League under 18s season after an initial 28-0 shutout against Wauchope Blues in their season opener at Stuart Park in July.

Coach Digby Murray said they turned out for the first four games of the season but have pulled out due to a perfect storm of early injuries, lack of players and difficult game roster.

"We had 32 blokes at training in preseason but suddenly a lot of them went to the Breakers and back to Macleay. We have had virtually about 16 players on the books and lost some of them to injury," he said.

"It snowballed from there and at that point we had about eight blokes at training. They wanted nine on the field but I have a duty of care to the kids, so I said there wasn't a point continuing.

"(In addition) We had a very poor draw and the 16s were very rarely in a time frame where they could back up for us. For example we were due to play at Wingham but the 16s were due to play at Macksville the same time.

"We hung in there for as long as we could. It was a snowball effect really."

READ MORE: Season kicks off with Wauchope Blues tackling Port Macquarie Sharks

Group Three Junior Rugby League president Warren Blissett said the Sharks games have been converted into a bye for the other teams.

"I think in all sports there can be teams that drop out and COVID-19 has had an impact on sport as well as the rest of society," he said.

"I know certainly in some of our younger age groups parents have made the decision not to play. Even the delayed start has been a factor in whether players play.

"We have short team rules where you have only 10 players each team on the field or nine on nine with one on the bench. We have been flexible in what we do to accommodate these sorts of situations."

Mr Murray said he was quietly confident that the team will come back stronger next year, albeit under new coaching leadership.

"I've helped out this year to keep them all together but when there's only seven or eight kids at training it can be hard to develop that team structure," he said.

"At this stage I doubt whether I'll be involved next year. I've chosen to knock back work that I can do on the weekends to do this instead. But now and then is a long time away.

"I've told the kids that I'm available to talk to or help them in anyway I can. Whether I take on the coaching job next year is not likely at this stage."

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