Ararat Football Netball Club president David Hosking said while COVID restrictions had cast doubts over the fixtures future the club remains eager to host the event.

"At this point in time, it's likely to go ahead on Good Friday," he said.

"Stawell are keen to proceed and so are we. So, unless something happens with the state government we'll start on Good Friday."

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AFL Victoria released its Return to Play Protocols earlier in the month. The protocols included a spectator cap of 1000.

Hosking said this limit might create challenges but that they would not be insurmountable.

"Our research suggests that we can expect a crowd of close to 1000," he said.

"There's been no football up here for quite a long time, and we think the footy might attract people who would not ordinarily go.

"But we'll do our best endeavors to keep numbers under the cap."

An unfortunate consequence of the spectator limit is that Ararat will not field a marquee player for the game, as doing so would potentially draw more spectators.

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"We were looking at Dane Swan," Hosking said.

"He would have brought 1000 people to the fixture on his own.

"If we had Dane Swan in and there weren't COVID restrictions it would be a massive carnival and everyone would have a great time but we can't do that."

Hosking said while the club was optimistic hosting the fixture, he wanted to be certain it could be done in a risk-free manner.

"We've got a lot to consider from a liability perspective," he said.

"We're an amateur football club staffed by volunteers, and I don't want my volunteers to be responsible for paying a fine because there's 1002 at the ground.

"If we can't do it safely then we'll have to revert to the normal draw."

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