Last week's short stint of sunshine proved deceptive, with many sports matches postponed again whilst many that went ahead severely damaged fields.

Football South Coast chief executive officer Ann-Marie Balliana said some clubs in the Men's Premiership competition had played just a handful of games in 2022, yet were more than halfway through the season.

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Ms Balliana said FSC was trying to be "conservative" over the state of grounds so added extra rounds to their community competitions and juniors as a strategy to save the turf.

"We would rather hold off because the last thing we want to do is to schedule games and then grounds are out for a lot longer because of the damage that's been caused," she said.

"The view of the clubs is to be patient and hold off using them so we can preserve them ... at the end of the day our clubs are responsible for their own grounds."

However, in Wollongong and Shellharbour some grounds opened for rugby league matches, which resulted in indefinite closure until their recovery.

Shellharbour City Council acting CEO Ben Stewart said they were pleased to see games go ahead at Ron Costello Oval and Croome Road Sporting Complex, and commended clubs who had taken field maintenance into their own hands.

However, both ovals now remain closed.

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"Initial indications are that the fields held up well, however there has been additional rain over the weekend and Council grounds have once more been closed," Mr Stewart said.

"Council will continue to monitor their condition to open them when they are in a suitable condition."

He did not give a time frame for how long the fields would need to recover due to the unprecedented wet weather, though the Mercury was told Shellharbour officers inspect their grounds twice a week.

Thirroul's Thomas Gibson Park and Woonona's Hollymount Oval were also reduced to swamps by junior and senior rugby league clubs on Saturday - two of 11 Wollongong Council owned fields allowed to open.

A council spokeswoman aid the impact of play by remains under assessment by the council's staff, though the Thirroul field was left damaged.

"How long the field will be out of play is currently unknown," she said.

"The maintenance and safety of fields when they are in use are the responsibility of both the grounds' home club and Wollongong City Council."

They were also asking "enthusiastic" club members to stop tending to fields, to preserve them further.

"For the remainder of the season, council will continue to manage our grounds on a field-by-field basis and our mowing staff will cut them as soon as it can be done safely," the spokeswoman said.

"We are assessing the fields daily and will open individual fields as and when we can despite these challenging conditions."

Illawarra Stingrays president Kathy McDonogh said most of her teams were having to train on netball courts and inside school auditoriums, which she said had become a safety issue and put players' welfare at risk.

Meantime, Ms McDonough said enrolments in junior sport across the board were already down since the last COVID-lockdown and expected the frustration of 2022's soggy season to be a further detriment to enrolments next year.

"It's been really difficult."