His resume as a sports administrator is a long as it is impressive.

But his comments earlier last week in regards to how best bush footy clubs, and the competitions that facilitate the game in regional NSW, should move forward post the coronavirus were wide of the mark.

He's right in saying season 2020 won't be what we're normally used to seeing and enjoying.

As Groups across NSW have indicated, a one round regular season followed by a finals series of some description looks to be the preferred option across the board as competitions look to squeeze a schedule in before October rolls round.

But Trodden, speaking with renowned country rugby league advocate Ken Sutcliffe, suggested things may go further.

He said "this season will be different from last season and different from next season and we've got to find a way to make it happen" ... then went as far as to say perhaps a nines tournament would be a decent way for Group or Cup competitions to run in 2020.

Nines? That gimmick? It's shocking that's the sort of creative thinking we're seeing from someone at the top of the game in NSW.

If anything, a comment like Trodden's shows, perhaps, even the NSWRL isn't quite clear just yet on just what the next step is either.

And if that's the case, why are we being strung along?

The strength of Group 10 is its standard of footy. It's one of the toughest premierships in the bush.

Group 10's forwards are tough. Its backs skillful.

And given a lot of clubs' proximity to Sydney, it's now a very attractive option for ex-NRL players looking to give a little back.

Kyle Lovett, Daniel Mortimer, Josh Starling and Jack Littlejohn are just some of the NRL players who were going to lace up the boots in Group 10 in 2020.

Offering up a nines comp for those players is laughable. It can't happen ... so attention must turn to 2021.

Can Group competitions in 2020 completely.

A handful of clubs have tippy-toed around the option, and said all of the right things in terms of backing the board's attempt to get a title race up and running, but a break this winter will be welcomed by most if not all Group 10 clubs currently battling to grasp how they'll financially handle any sort of competition at all this winter.

Things are tight. Sponsors are battling. Clubs will battle. And running players out on the field isn't cheap.

Ask the players to play for free? Won't work.

Some Aussie Rules competitions across Australia have floated the idea of putting a freeze on player payments - South Australia's top domestic competition last week made the decision to suspend payments for players, coaches and umpires to stave off financially crippling the whole league.

Down in Albury, the head of the Ovens and Murray AFL competition David Sinclair welcomed a recent player survey that suggested its players would happily play for nothing.

But he warned "this is not a silver bullet with sufficient spectator attendance still the key".

Numbers through the gate is the key in Group 10 too.

At best it looks likely a crowd cap of 500 people may be let through gates at some point should the season come to fruition when July 18 rolls around.

A crowd of 500 at a local derby between CYMS and Hawks would be a financial nightmare for the host club.

An attendance triple that would normally be the goal, and would go a long way to helping bankroll a whole season.

Sure, teams would be out on the field. But the clubs would essentially have one hand tied behind their backs.

Putting that sort of stress on the shoulders of the volunteers that run clubs in country towns - small towns too, towns like Blayney, Cowra and Mudgee that rely on their footy clubs as a social outlet - would be utterly irresponsible.

But footy shouldn't be lost all together in 2020. It doesn't have to be.

Clubs need to be spared, absolutely, but the community still needs its footy fix.

There hasn't been an open Country Championship run since 2016, when the then-CRL board made the call to cap its top level competition at under 23s.

Last season, though, the Western Division board brought back a senior side and arranged a clash with France - the international opposition was a real boon for the open's concept and, really, whetted the appetite for a full-time return for the top grade Rams.

Would it be a silly suggestion for the NSWRL to look into running an open Country Championship?

Kick it off later than mid-July, even as late as the beginning of October, and run it so the final can then be played as a curtain raiser for whatever State of Origin game will be in NSW come November.

There's a chance we'll be able to see some crowds return to venues by October.

And the lure of potentially playing ahead of an Origin game would surely act as a juicy carrot to get the best players from each region involved for the respective Divisions.

Some of the best stories you hear at grounds across the region involve the famed green and white - why not give this generation a chance to be able to tell their own stories.

Anything but nines, Mr Trodden.