The script changed dramatically for Ryan Tyrrell and the Launceston Football Club.
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Two weeks out from a new season, Tyrrell was preparing to step into his new vice-captaincy role and begin the quest to better last year's third-place finish.
Instead, the 21-year-old found his expectations shelved as the state entered a coronavirus lockdown.
"We were at the stage where we were really gearing up to attack round one when it all started so it was a bit strange," Tyrrell said.
"The first few weeks for me it's been a bit different just having three days a week taken out and the one day playing on a Saturday.
"I like just the routine of the week-in week-out, it keeps your life pretty structured so I'm pretty keen to get back into that.
"We were gearing up to nearly play round one so it hurt to have that taken away, but there's bigger things at play at the moment."
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Football competitions across the state has been put on hold until at least May 31.
In the meantime, the Blues have split up into groups of two in an effort to maintain their fitness levels should the season get under way.
Tyrrell's partner is locker room neighbour and fellow running back Casey Brown.
"We've been designated a partner, so we meet up twice a week and just follow the rules," Tyrrell said.
"We do partner activities - every Monday and Wednesday we'll go for a run or something like that and try to keep on top of it that way.
"We'll do a half hour running session and then we'll try and get a half-hour kick in to keep the touch."
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The weekly sessions help retain some of the normalcy of a football club, even if Saturdays look a bit different.
"You usually knock off work on a Friday and you're doing everything right to get ready to play on the Saturday - now I'm waking up and sleeping in," Tyrell said.
"It's been weird - sort of nice to relax, but I do miss it.
"I know it's been battle for some of the other boys because it's not just a matter of rocking up and playing on a Saturday, there's a lot more to the footy club than that.
"But we've been really lucky that the club's been super supportive throughout this early part of the break.
"That's something we've really tried to build over the last couple of years I suppose - an environment everyone wants to be in and we've proven that in this time off.
"I think we've had 37 of 40 players re-sign until the end of 2021 or 2022, so that's been massive."