Following the cancellation of multiple other national sporting leagues, Launceston's Kurt Budgeon wasn't surprised as Hockey One followed suit on Wednesday.
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Instead, the 22-year-old who made his senior Tasmanian debut in the Tigers' inaugural match last year, was hit with a different feeling.
"Pretty disappointed is probably the main emotion coming out of it because I was really looking forward to this season, being another year older having learned so much last year," he said.
"It was a different level. [I felt like I belonged] in stages. I felt like I could have, not worked harder, but there was certainly room for improvement which I was looking forward to doing in the off-season and this season to come and hopefully selecting my spot in 2020."
ELSEWHERE IN SPORT
The only Greater Northern League representative in the 20-man squad featuring international stars such as Eddie Ockenden and Tim Deavin, the R and S Rosier Construction worker impressed coach Andrew McDonald with his efforts.
"There was a fair bit of feedback from the coach and assistant coach, just reinforcing that I'm doing the right things and obviously there's a lot of work coming from Launceston with a lot of the team Hobart-based, so they were pretty good about that."
While not surprised about Hockey One's decision to pull the pin on 2020, Hockey Tasmania's call to postpone the Greater Northern League early last week shocked the star at the time.
A member of four South Launceston premierships in the last six seasons, Budgeon says he has little indication of when or if the league will resume but is ready to drop everything when it does.
"I thought it was going to be all on track and starting on time so it was pretty surprising when they pulled the pin on that which was really disappointing but it shows it's affecting everything in life at the moment.
"Everyone's got to look out for each other and push through these hard times.
"We are all doing individual training, whether that be home gym sessions or runs so we are all keeping fit for whether it's a week's notice for the season or it could be a two month thing when we are going to start but nevertheless we are ready to go."
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