The league on Thursday announced uncertainty surrounding coronavirus restrictions forced its hand.

Heywood president Darren McDowell said it was the right call.

"There was too many ifs and buts and not many positives about trying to get a season up and going," he told The Standard.

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McDowell said a sense of community drove the Lions and their rivals.

He said potentially playing without crowds and adding pressure to volunteers were obstacles.

"The season wasn't going to go ahead without spectators. We all voted: no spectators, no football," McDowell said.

"They (AFL Victoria) asked us to have COVID representatives for clubs and none of us could find volunteers because it was pretty full-on that job."

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McDowell said a limited training base - clubs can only do non-contact sessions until further advised - was another factor.

"The way the AFL (Victoria) set it up, it was like they wanted us to train two or three weeks and get into it," he said.

"I don't think that's enough time to get match fitness. We'd have to have at least a month of training.

"It would push the season back into August which is three quarters of our season over."

McDowell said the decision to scrap the season gave Heywood a chance to take stock and prepare for next season.

"Everyone was happy with the decision we made. It wouldn't surprise me if we see other leagues follow suit," he said.

"If the restrictions do lift before Christmas, we might have a big family day at the footy club."

Heywood won senior premierships in 2018 and '19.

McDowell said the Lions were confident they could remain a force in 2021.

"I've spoken to a fair few players and they all seem keen to hang on and hang about which is a good thing," he said.

"They're talking pre-season already. They miss their footy."

Coleraine president Ashley Lambert said his club was "fully supportive" of the cancellation under the current circumstances.

"There is a chance we could get going but there was also a chance we could get cancelled midway through so to start in that environment isn't great for training or the prevention of injuries to players," he said.

Lambert was not hopeful of a season going ahead in 2020.

"The fact the AFL didn't really have full control until recently meant that it would be a long time before we were going to be in a positive position to return," he said.

"We haven't even started training yet and you have to allow a month for that and we are already seeing injuries from (NRL club) Melbourne Storm in their stop-start return."

Lambert conceded it was too risky for the competition to return.

"We have got committee people at risk of COVID-19 which has stopped some of our netballers from playing and a few coaches and life members are in the high-risk category," he said.

"Safety of everyone was a key priority. Players didn't want to take it back to their workplaces.

"We have a duty of care and I know some players would have been keen but there is a lot that didn't want to expose themselves."

Lambert praised the SWDFNL for being proactive with the decision.

"We weren't sure if AFLWD were the ones to tell us (to cancel) so it is great to be able to make decisions ourselves," he said.

"We have got an advisory committee and we have a close-knit group of presidents and we all have good working relationships.

"The only real concerns about shutting up early is that other clubs might poach players, and once you lose them you don't get them back."

Lambert said the decision allowed the league's clubs and players to move on and prepare for 2021.

Westerns president Adam Hawke said it was a "unanimous" decision to cancel the season.

He said restrictions on training, fears games would be played without crowds, therefore hurting clubs financially, and the uncertainty surrounding a start date were catalysts.

"The late start to the season and how that would look, it was probably going to be too hard on the clubs to get a fair draw for everyone," Hawke said.

"Getting equal home and away games and allowing enough time to proceed with pre-season training before the season started."

McDowell, Lambert and Hawke all said safety and well-being was paramount too.

Hawke said the pressure on club-appointed COVID safety volunteers would have been "immense".

"To have to put that on them that they had to be monitoring everything, recording everything, it was just a full-on responsibility that clubs were going to struggle with," he said.

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