Noradjuha-Quantong president Andrew Rose said the last minute cancellation had been a "kick in the guts".

"A lot of work went into preparing over the last couple of days. Particularly (Friday) night, we were still setting up until about eight o'clock when we heard the news," he said.

The club was supposed to host the first game in the Horsham District League's 2021 finals series at Quantong Recreation Reserve.

However the last minute announcement quickly put a damper on preparations.

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"Everyone felt a bit flat to be honest," Rose said.

"When the news came through, we opened the bar. We all we had a quiet drink and a check, just to make sure everyone was okay."

"It's a shame we didn't hear until the last hour. We were thinking it was a possibility all through the day, but we kept soldiering on as if it was going to go ahead.

"It's disappointing, but it's no-one's fault. It is what it is.

"Over the next few days we'll start dismantling the marques and one thing or another... a lot of the food can be frozen, but some of the fresh fruit for fruit platters and that sort of thing will be wasted."

Rose said the club hadn't prepared for the game as if it were a normal final, meaning that less food would have to be thrown out.

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"There won't be a lot of wastage. Bread can be frozen, the meat from the barbecue can be frozen. Because it was a smaller crowd, we didn't cater or plan for a crowd like you normally would for a final.

"To host a final under normal circumstances is a fairly big earner for a club, anywhere between $10,000-$15,000.

"We'd planned not to have that sort of turnover anyway, due to the smaller crowd numbers, so it's not really a surprise. But it does hurt."

Elsewhere, the Horsham Demons girls football team were steeling themselves in preparation to play in the Western District Female Football League grand final on Sunday.

Coach Terry Arnel said the team was disappointed by the decision.

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"The girls will be disappointed because it's been a bit of build up to get there, with the win last week. Sunday would have wrapped (the season) up and put a ribbon around the year," he said.

"That's not going to eventuate at the moment, we'll just have to wait to see what happens."

Things aren't all doom and gloom Arnel said, although logistics will be a worry if the grand final is to be held in the future.

"They'll have a couple of weeks up their sleeve if things turn around, but it means (the league has to) got to stay engaged with the four teams in the grand finals," he said.

Lockdowns pose a huge challenge for community sport at the pointy end of the season, although AFL Victoria said in a statement the decision to lockdown regional Victoria was made based on health and safety advice the AFL received from the Victorian government.

"We understand this creates significant challenges for community football in regional Victoria and is really disappointing. We will continue to be guided by the Victorian Government with the health and safety of the community the priority," AFL Victoria said in a statement.

"We will provide further updates when any new information is made available."

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