Clubs could be forced to field combined teams and may not be able to field as many teams as they envisaged before the season was suspended.
The premier club grade was supposed to start on March 20 but all community rugby was put on hold a few days before that.
The season is supposed to be finished by the end of July, though it may not get off the ground.
Dunedin club member Lee Piper said in an interview with the Otago Daily Times yesterday the club window did not have to be set in stone and there was flexibility to move it.
The worry for many clubs was having enough players to field teams. Many clubs based their teams around university students, many of whom have returned home to other parts of New Zealand as tertiary students go to online learning.
Piper had talked to some premium colts players and has positive feedback on whether they would return to Dunedin to play. He said 80% of them would return to the city.
Interim council of clubs chairman Paul Dwyer said there was concern about those players who did not take the game so seriously and they could be lost to the game and clubs.
Dwyer said the clubs were pretty motivated to get a season under way but it was going to be tough with an empty clubrooms, no bar takings and questions over sponsorship.
Piper said the competition could go to late August, if not later, and everything was flexible.
Much would depend on when the university break was and exams would have to be considered.
The premium competition could consist of one round with semifinals and a final.
Some clubs relied heavily on university players while others not so much, Piper said.
He said the 2020 season may not be so much about who wins the grade but getting out and just playing the game with friends and being part of the rugby community.
Starting to play would depend a lot on the Covid-19 alert level the country was at but a possible start date could be early July.
Playing games on club grounds, uncontrolled environments, could attract a crowd of more than 500, which was above the maximum number allowed under the Level 1 rules.
There was a real appetite in the community to play the game, Dwyer said, and players were keen to get out there.
- Check out www.odt.co.nz for a full interview with Paul Dwyer and Lee Piper.