Merewether's Richie Campbell and fellow Australian representatives will get the chance to contest a makeshift three-day tournament this week in lieu of the recently cancelled nationals in Brisbane but the Hunter Hurricanes squads won't have the same opportunity
Campbell is just over 100 days out from a fourth Olympic campaign but the latest coronavirus lockdown in the Queensland capital has disrupted Tokyo preparations for the country's top male and female teams.
The Sharks and Stingers now disperse into club sides for the KAP7 Cup in Sydney from Thursday to Saturday.
The announcement was made on Tuesday, just 24 hours after the Australian Water Polo League was canned because of COVID-19 restrictions.
However, the Hurricanes were not part of the new draw despite having been booked to travel north of the state border on Tuesday and start contesting nationals on Wednesday prior to the most recent public health orders issued by government.
The new men's competition will feature Campbell's UNSW Magpies as well as the Sydney Uni Lions, UTS Balmain Tigers and Drummoyne Devils. The revised women's competition has the Sydney Uni Lions, UTS Balmain Tigers, Drummoyne Devils and ACU Cronulla Sharks.
It is unclear if individual Hunter players will be drafted by those outfits.
Water Polo Australia (WPA) released a statement via their website.
"Our club based programs form an important part of our Olympic preparations so we were eager to ensure our Aussie Sharks and Stingers were able to participate in high quality games which the Australian Water Polo League always provides," WPA general manager performance Charles Turner said.
"Our KAP7 Aussie Sharks are largely based at NSW Institute of Sport and our Aussie Stingers thankfully have been based on the Sunshine Coast, outside of Greater Brisbane, but we have relocated them to Sydney as well.
"The Australian Water Polo League has a proud tradition in our water polo community and it will be great to see the top four Sydney teams go head-to-head to not only give players the chance to compete, but fans across Australia the opportunity to tune in.
"With just over 100 days to go until the Olympic Games, all competition will form an important building block towards Tokyo."
