Deputy Premier John Barilaro said last Friday that the risk was greater than the reward in getting teams out onto the field.

"The reality here is when we set out conditions for reopening it's all based on risk," he said.

"We want to support business, they're haemorrhaging. We want to reboot the community, they're hurting, and we don't want to jeopardise that."

He added that the situation was a tinder box "ready to explode anytime."

"Community sport is run by volunteers, and they have no ability to control what's happening on the side-line. We have to measure the benefits against the risk and err on the side of caution," he said.

"We need patience, and that's what we're asking for."

This means sports like cricket which historically would begin around the start of October, would likely have their starts pushed back.

Reaffirming that point was Dubbo MP Dugald Saunders.

"Community sport is really hard to have some clear advice or mandates around, as opposed to professional sport where people can actually be in a bubble," he said.

"In community sport we've got too many people involved that come from all different areas. So whilst you might say there is an area that is out of the stay at home orders, the other people that have to be involved in that competition may not be from out of the stay at home orders.

"We've got all this cross-pollination that happens, as you know, right across our region. That's from the Far West, right across to Orange, Bathurst and Lithgow."

"The community sport really has to wait until its the 80 per cent vaccination double-dosed," the MP added.

"At the moment, even though there are areas that are coming out of the stay at home orders, the ability to go and train and kick a ball around will be there, but not where it could involve people coming from other parts of the region.

"That's why that's been put back to the 80 per cent because until that point, the risk is still too high of people infecting each other from other areas."

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