Which riders who normally race the nationals and would actually be competitive are missing? O'Connor might be one, possibly Drizners and Schultz. The last time Ewan raced in Australia he skipped the nationals and the year before was a DNF, Storer also skipped them the last time he raced here, Haig hasn't started the nationals since 2016, Porte 2018, Lucas Hamilton missed this year but made it in 2021 and Matthews has already been discussed. The field might have been a little weaker on paper but in reality not that much weaker and certainly not a good reason to cancel the race.
Lets take this a step further - Very few riders who travelled home for the 2020/2021 summer in which they had to complete 14 days quarantine reached their normal level in 2021 - Only Brown and Porte and possibly Durbridge reached their level in 2021, hence more riders stayed in Europe for the 2021/2022 off-season to prepare for the 2022 season. It's not just about the weakness of the fields BUT it's also the ability to actually enter Australia to ride the National's. Anyway we'll get a truly representative field in 2023.