Melton midfielder Shaun Campbell has ventured north of the Murray River in pursuit of getting his football fix for the year.
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Campbell is hoping to line up with his former side Wagga Tigers in a competition comprising clubs from the Riverina and Farrer leagues in New South Wales.
He made it into NSW with about an hour to spare before the border closed on July 8 and made his way to Canberra.
Originally from the ACT where he played with Ainslie, he is spending his mandatory 14-day quarantine period with his parents.
Campbell said Wagga put out feelers out to him sometime ago, asking him to consider returning to the Tigers if the Ballarat Football League season did not go ahead.
With his normal employment as a personal trainer struggling in the COVID-19 pandemic environment, it was a relatively easy decision to make.
He said if the competition did get off the ground, it was only going to be a short season in any case.
The RFL was planning to start an abbreviated season on Saturday, but this has now been delayed a week until Saturday, July 25.
What will be known as the AFL Riverina Championship finish no later than October 10.
As it stands, the NSW Government is allowing sporting competitions to proceed subject to having a COVID safety plan.
Campbell said it was only a temporary move.
He said once it was finished he would be returning to Melbourne.
Campbell is among about 20 players from Victoria seeking clearances to play in the competition.
A former Ballan star and CHFL best and fairest, Campbell had a stellar campaign in his first season with Melton last year.
He represented the BFL in the AFL Community Championships, in which he was among the Navy Blues' best against Hampden, and was named in the BFL team of the year. He was fourth in Melton's best and fairest.
He joined the Bloods after three years as Wagga coach, leading the Tigers to a premiership.
IN the meantime, Melton is close to what is expected to the reappointment of non-playing coach Aaron Tymms. He had been contracted until the end of this year.
Tymms has had three years in the job since stepping up from an assistant to Brad Murphy.
He took the Bloods to the 2018 grand final from third, only to lose to East Point by two points.
It was Melton's first finals series since 2007 and first grand final since 2001.
Melton lost last year's preliminary final to Sebastopol.