With every major sporting code shut down, from Wallas rugby through to senior social basketball to Group 10, there's silence where there was once cheering and banter.

This is what Orange will look like for the next few sports-less months.

From Wade Park to Waratahs, from the Hockey Centre to the PCYC, from Bloomfield to Endeavour Oval - the only movement is the sight of the occasional dog walker.

It needs to be this way, make no mistake about it.

We need to stop this coronavirus spread and there's only one way to do it - by keeping our distance.

We just have to play the waiting game until sport returns, but as anyone who's seen The Simpsons knows - the waiting game sucks and I'd rather play Hungry Hungry Hippos.

We managed to get two rounds of the NRL in and just the one of the AFL before it went kaput and the state borders began to close - not something I thought I'd ever see in my lifetime.

It was only a matter of time before the two of them switched off, meaning we're stuck with next to zero live sport anywhere across the globe, and all but zero grassroots-organised sport.

It's been 48 hours and I already have a deep-seated craving for sport, and now the final Australian dominos have fallen all we've got is Marbula One, which I was put onto last last week.

For anyone who hasn't seen, it's basically Formula One but - get this, right - with marbles.

Yep. Marbles.

And you know what's the most nuts about that? I can't tell if it's genuinely enthralling or I'm so sports made I'll barrack loudly for literally anything which moves.

British football commentator Nick Heath has been giving sports commentary to everyday events and it's excellent, but this sugar hits of sport can't fill the void left by footy - or hockey, netball, cricket, depending on your poison of choice.

But more deeply, sport is something which brings people together.

Quite rightly, it isn't the biggest concern currently and it's the correct move to modify or cancel so much of it as we work to slow the spread of the coronoavirus pandemic.

But missing out on that social interaction, whether it be running laps during footy pre-season, chatting in the slips on the cricket field or watching a family member run around the netball courts brings its own challenges.

Virtually every competition in the region has been at least postponed for the time being and things are likely to get worse before they get better.

In an area like this where sport is largely amateur, the social interaction is often more important than the result to many people and that's the big thing people will be going without.

It's something that's always been taken for granted, not least by me.

When I saddled up to the Orange Tigers two years ago, I knew I wasn't joining to set the world on fire. I'm an average footballer on a good day, and that's once you ignore the... uh... unconventional way I kick a footy.

I knew it was a social endeavour more than anything, and the Tigers have become a sort of large, loud, sports-mad family, and - like every other club in the city - we've been going a bit mad with training and sessions canned.

It's been reflected across town, too.

Orange Emus forward Nick Hughes-Clapp has had the same sentiment, saying he'd much rather be down at Endeavour Oval with the rest of his teammates than cooped up at home each evening - however admits it's needed.

"It's the right call to make, because it's not something we can be too over-cautious with, but that said I really do miss playing football."

He said he'd become a bit "stir-crazy", even though he's been at work and hasn't been trapped in the house.

"A lot of it has to do with the social connection as much as the physical connection," he said.

"A few of us have headed down to the pub to have a beer but obviously now that won't be an option."

Even at the very highest level it's a concern. ESPN in the USA reported just in the past few days the NBA was now studying the effects of social isolation on the mental health of its players.

Losing social networks of any kind can be a major cause of loneliness.

Reports completed prior to the coronavirus pandemic found one in four Australians feels lonely each week and those who are lonely have worse physical and mental health, and are more likely to suffer from depression.

The restrictions currently in place around isolation and travel make that even more likely.

"Everything about this is the opposite of what we normally speak about, we firmly believe in the importance of community and connection," Central West Lifeline Director Stephanie Robinson said this week.

"I can't highlight enough the importance of community still looking out for our vulnerable, it'll be easy for some people to slip through the cracks without very intentional, targeted connection.

"I think that's something to watch for."

So what do we do?

From a fitness perspective? No clue.

I'm not someone who's ever been able to motivate myself to exercise on my own - as anyone who's ever seen me at a pre-season training session can tell you.

But we've all got to stick together, across team group chats, across calls and messages and texts, and make sure we're checking in. We'll get through it together.