In recent weeks local sporting club have taken to their fields with armies of push mowers and garden tools, as months and months of rain made it too difficult for heavy machinery, but it seems vigorous exercise is still too much for the grass.

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Although the adults AFL match scheduled at Woonona's Hollymount Park on Saturday was postponed due to the soggy ground, the junior rugby league matches went ahead with children having to be hosed down post-match.

The grounds, which are owned by Wollongong City Council, were later listed as "closed" on the council website while witnesses said the oval was "trashed" after all the fun.

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At Gibson Park in Thirroul, it was hard to identify players in the Illawarra Rugby League match between the Butchers and Collegians - labelled "a swamp scrap" by Mercury sport reporter Mitch Jennings.

It seems there may not be much reprieve with the rain - in the short term or longer term - with the La Nina weather pattern continuing to hang around, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.

In the Bureau's latest climate outlook they are predicting above "average rainfall" for the rest of May and peppered through July and into August.

For the next week alone, showers are forecast each day for Wollongong and Albion Park.

Meantime, a hazardous surf warning has been issued for Monday for the Illawarra, starting at the Byron Coast and running down to Batemans Bay, though it is a bit difficult to play footy in the ocean.

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