The league was one of the many sports affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with its traditional November start pushed back to December, multiple in-season schedule changes, fixtures reduced to 24 games and the withdrawal of Geelong-Korea and Auckland Tuatara for the season.
[8] The second round between Melbourne and Perth was also interrupted due to the previous cluster spreading to Victoria and impacting Western Australia's border closure on the state.
[9] A single COVID case in Queensland on 7 January saw Brisbane's hub that included the Bandits, Heat & Giants end prematurely as all three teams were flown out early to Adelaide as to not be stuck with border closures.
By playing in regional New South Wales, the Blue Sox did not have to deal with closed state borders, and Canberra did not have to enter a COVID hotspot.
Due to changes in the regular season presented by COVID enforced state border restrictions, the playoff structure was announced mid-season to include five teams.