This column's fielded that question a couple of hundred times over the last month and that's still my answer. I wouldn't call my gut all the reliable either - maybe it's the froth - but on this I'm not sure anyone can could trust basic intuition.

Like most people, I thought we were no chance a month ago. Then I was quite optimistic as governments started loosening the reins on it's public health orders.

Ultimately, I've settled somewhere in the middle. I don't think anyone could sit anywhere else with any confidence.

In clubland, there are those scratching at the gate to get on the park, others vehemently against doing so. The others, like Kickoff, sit somewhere in the middle.

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On what we're currently hearing, it's hard to imagine government health measures not being relaxed enough to see sport back in July but in reality that's a minor concern for the league.

All clubs are, to varying degrees, reliant on funding from licensed clubs and pubs, an industry bleeding right now and looking at a long-term economic fallout beyond this year.

With the Steelers Club doors shut and all staff stood down, the league itself isn't immune, with staff working on the smell of an oily rag to get a season together.

Unlike the NRL, that will unclog a river of broadcast gold the minute they get back on the park, economic recovery for the pubs and clubs - and most businesses who support footy clubs - is a much longer game.

That is where most concern lies, it's less about the 2020 season, and more about 2021 and beyond.

All clubs, but particularly the lower budget ones, work a year in advance budget-wise. The likes of Helensburgh, Corrimal and Berkeley rely on a wide array minor sponsors but also heavily on game-day revenue, beer and canteen and all the rest.

If you spent a day on the Rex Jackson Oval balcony or a day on the Old Boys' Hill at Gibson Park you could well wonder how they're not the richest clubs in the comp.

That revenue flows into their budget for the following year. Most could get through a season at a pinch this year, but there'd be a very real prospect of dropping out the following one. As everyone well knows, once a club drops out of the top competition, it's a very steep climb to get back in.

The IDRL have done a lot over the past two seasons to ensure the sustainability of clubs - a new salary cap chief among the measures. The reluctance to throw all that out for the sake of a single modified season is understandable.

This column certainly won't condemn the league or clubs for whatever decision they come to - there's really no right or wrong answer.

What I would go to great lengths to caution against is unfair comparisons to other competitions. When it comes to the Illawarra Rugby League, their really are no other like-for-like competitions.

Obviously the Illawarra League is not the NRL. It's similar to the Newcastle competition but much closer to Sydney and competitions like the Ron Massey Cup.

The northern tip of Group Seven is just a stone's throw in the other direction. Its a geographical position is a good illustration of where it sits on the standard and money on offer scale.

It also sits in quite a unique spot in what is the new NSW Rugby League following it's merger with the CRL. The first grade competition was this year promoted to major competitions status, though it's lower and junior grades were not.

It meant when the NSWRL initially proposed May return dates, it put Illawarra clubs in the strange position of half their club possibly playing a month before first grade were permitted to.

That's been avoided by the new July dates but it's indicative of the challenges the IDRL faces given it's position on the axis of elite and grassroots football.

Group Seven are proposing a 12-16 round season that could run into November. Kickoff is less attuned to the thinking of those clubs but it would be hard to imagine consensus there either.

It'll look awful for the IDRL on PR front if its competition doesn't go ahead while Group Seven's does but, as is, they are competitions vastly different running cost and demands.

In some ways you couldn't even call it equitable. As someone pointed out to us this week, are clubs like Corrimal or Berkeley vastly more resourced than, say, Shellharbour? No, but they're in the noose for higher costs.

Playing for free? That's no real solution either. Rebuilding clubs are already forced to pay overs to recruit players, often from outside the competition. Are those same players going to make that commitment for free, especially if they're looking at a touch-up or two along the way? Should you ask them to?

The Illawarra League is an incredibly tough competition to play in. It's a big ask to do it for nothing. Some might, but some won't and you can't blame either.

There is a special meeting of IDRL board on Thursday night to consider a draft proposal for a modified season - and that's all it is, a draft.

Ultimately clubs will need to have their say on it but only something pretty close to unanimous endorsement will see it adopted. Consensus in rugby league is difficult enough at the best of times.

A season going ahead will likely require a one-in, all-in commitment. Would a five or four-team competition be worth it? I dunno, which remains my answer to most questions in these strange times.

I do think the only way an opt-in or opt-out solution can be found is in looking beyond traditional borders.

Comparable Newcastle and Canberra competitions are no doubt facing the same issues as Illawarra clubs. Could some clubs be able to opt-in to a Challenge Cup type competition with teams from all three leagues?

It'd be a juggling act, but it piqued the interest of a few coaches Kickoff has spoken to. It would allow clubs bent on playing to do so, with a trophy and some decent bragging rights on offer.

Those who can't can turn their attention to building toward 2021 without 'missing' an Illawarra League season. Alternatively, it's likely Group Seven will be keen on hosting Illawarra League clubs for a season.

Still, would doing so in an amateur or capped-payment competition soften the stance, particularly if some its own clubs might be struggling to get on the paddock.

Don't call it Illawarra Rugby League or Group Seven, whack something else on a trophy that would be a pretty unique piece of silverware years down the track.

The NSWRL-CRL merger was designed to allow such thinking, admittedly not as quickly or all at once, but out of the box times require out of the box solutions.

Either way I don't envy the decision-makers because, if you ask me... I just dunno.