NRL comeback plan in fresh doubt as QLD premier says she’ll stop clubs travelling interstate
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys says the NRL has been given official permission to resume next month, without the knowledge of the state’s deputy chief medical officer or health minister.
V’landys says the ARLC has been given written authorisation from NSW authorities for the game to resume on May 28.
While Roosters chair Nick Politis is demanding for the NRL to wipe points for season restart.
QLD PREMIER POUR SCORN ON NRL PLAN
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has put the NRL’s plans to resume on May 28 in serious doubt, stating that any decision made on the competition resuming will be based on the support of doctors.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at a press conferenceSource: News Corp Australia
Palaszczuk said she has not spoken to the NRL about rebooting the competition. She said she would wait for advice from healthcare professionals. She also said she would not give NRL sides from Queensland exemptions to travel to NSW.
QLDers won't cross boarder?
“There has been no discussions with me about it,” she said.
“I think we all have to abide by the same rules and I think we have to have very clear health advice about this.
“I would like to see the footy returned as much as everyone else.
“I would love to see the State of Origin played this year.
“But, unless we get firm health advice that it is OK, I think it sends the wrong message to the public.
Reliving Cam Smith's points
“They would not meet the criteria, and secondly – as I said – we would need to have clear health advice.
“And I say to all the sporting organisations, let’s just take a break, let’s get this ‘flattening the curve’ under control.
“And then we can talk to the health officers about getting advice.
“Let’s not rush this. Let’s take this slowly.”
PLAYERS AGREE CLUBS SHOULD KEEP POINTS FROM OPENING ROUNDS
A working group of players from all 16 NRL clubs last week agreed that points should be kept from the opening two rounds of the 2020 campaign. The debate was reignited on Sunday when Sydney Roosters supremo Nick Politis called for all points previously won this season to be scrapped ahead of the planned May 28 resumption.
Officials from Cronulla and the Warriors – whose teams, like the Roosters, have yet to pick up a point – echoed Politis’ call.
However it is understood a Rugby League Players’ Association working group have already agreed their view is the first two rounds of this year’s premiership should count.
Representatives from all clubs discussed the matter in a phone hook-up on Thursday, just hours after the competition’s planned restart was confirmed. “I don’t think (it would be fair to lose points),” Penrith halfback Nathan Cleary told Nine’s
Sunday Footy Show.
“We had a meeting with the RLPA and everyone was on board with keeping the points. I was pretty happy to hear that.
“Obviously (I’m) a little bit biased because we won our first two games. “You work pretty hard to win games in the NRL so I couldn’t see the justification of taking the points off.”
The Panthers are among six clubs undefeated through the first two rounds, while six lost both matches.
Four teams – Manly, Wests Tigers, North Queensland and South Sydney – have won one and lost one.
The argument for points to be taken off teams from the opening two rounds was initially largely based on the NRL breaking off into a conference system. But the ‘Project Apollo’ innovations committee chair Wayne Pearce has told AAP the conference plan is now extremely unlikely for the 2020 season. The most likely scenario now appears to involve each team playing each other once, with a number of additional rounds for rivalry matches to boost television revenue.
A shorter season would disadvantage sides who lost their opening two games, given clubs usually need to win at least half of their matches to make the finals.
However any removal in points from those matches would bring into question suspensions issued in the opening two rounds, as well as fairness for teams who have lost players to injury.
The final format – likely to equate to an 18- or 20-round season with a grand final in late October – will be discussed with broadcasters this week.
Although the NRL has announced a May 28 restart date, the league is not out of the dark financially and are exploring options to remain viable.
The
Sydney Morning Herald is reporting that the NRL is considering selling a stake to private investors to make it through the coronavirus pandemic.
ARLC chair Peter V’landys has admitted he is open to the idea.
“We would entertain anything that is for the benefit of the game,” V’landys told
The Sun-Herald.
“If there is benefit to the game, absolutely we would look at it. At the moment with our current financial situation, we would be negligent if we didn’t look at any option like that.
“It brings a lot of upfront capital, it brings in a lot of money you wouldn’t have,” he said. “We need to look at all aspects to financially assist the game. We would need to sit down and analyse any proposal. It’s a hypothetical at the moment.
“We would be negligent in our duties if we didn’t look at any commercial proposal that was beneficial to the game.”
Founder and managing director of Park Lane, a firm that specialises in helping high net-worth individuals become owners of sporting franchises, Andrew Kline says those individuals are more inclined to buy an entire league — or a stake of it — rather than a club.
“People want to invest more than less. What I mean by that, it’s much more interesting to go in and buy an entire league or lend them money so that the league can source that money out to every team, as opposed to buying just one team,” he said.
“Some of our clients do want to buy one team … But for the most part, our institutional clients, our institutional investors, they would much rather … back the growth of a league.”
Govt. didn't shut down NRL
POLITIS WANTS CLEAN SLATE
Roosters chair Nick Politis has demanded that all points won in the opening two rounds of the competition be wiped ahead of the season restart.
It’s a convenient call given the Roosters were sitting 12th on no points when the season was suspended.
Politis, a billionaire who is extraordinarily influential claims that taking off from where the season stopped would be “meaningless.”
“If you change the draw, you’ve got to start again. If the current points are to stand, we have to play over a full season,” Politis said.
“It’s like changing the race from a Melbourne Cup (two miles) to a Doncaster (one mile) after it’s already started.
“It becomes meaningless and makes it almost mathematically impossible for the bottom sides to make the top four.”
“This isn’t just about the Roosters. It’s about the integrity of the competition and giving every club and their fans a fair chance.”
While the NRL is yet to decide on the format of the season, Politis has the support of Sharks and Warriors CEOs who both agree clubs should all start from zero, however Raiders coach Ricky Stuart is willing to “fight” to keep his team’s four points.
“If we’re sitting here now with 22 rounds to go, the chances of making the top four, top six or top eight are far more achievable than trying to do it with 13 games left,” Warriors CEO Cameron George said.
“Are they going to change the draw? That in itself makes it a new competition.”
Sharks CEO Dino Mezzatesta sings the same tune.
“We’ve played finals football for the last five years, it would be devastating for our fans to miss out this year because it’s a shortened season,” he said.
“We lost really close games to Souths and Storm but showed enough to think we could make the finals again. Under the new format, it makes it so much harder.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart disagreed.
“I promise you I would fight this for my players, our sponsors and every single Raiders fan,” he said.
“I’m positive (Roosters coach) Trent Robinson, who is on the innovations committee, understands how hard players work in preparation for the start of the season — and deserve their results.”
THE LETTER THAT GIVES NRL GREEN LIGHT
There was some confusion on Saturday when NSW health minister Brad Hazzard cast fresh doubt over the NRL’s plan to restart competition on May 28.
“It’s a ‘have a discussion with health authorities to see if it can be done safely’,” Hazzard said.
“If it is possible for a sport, any sport, to operate in a safe way, that’s a question for health authorities – not politicians.
“The government did not stop rugby league from playing – rugby league stopped rugby league from playing (last month when the competition was suspended).
“We haven’t actually taken any steps one way or the other.”
Hazzard also claimed he had not been in contact with the NRL or ARLC for a number of weeks.
But ARLC chairman Peter V’landys said he had received written confirmation the game was clear to resume competition next month.
And below is the letter from NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller which says the NRL may resume competition if it follows strict rules, including not having any crowds at games.
The NRL has only been cleared to play in NSW, though, and is reportedly still communicating with the Queensland government to try and gain exemption.
Read the full letter below.
NRL Letter from NSW State Emergency Operations- page 1: Regarding the permissions to restart the NRL competition under the health rules during COVID-19Source: Supplied
NRL Letter from NSW State Emergency Operations- page 2: Regarding the permissions to restart the NRL competition under the health rules during COVID-19Source: Supplied
SCRAPPING POINTS BACK ON THE TABLE
Innovations committee leader Wayne Pearce briefly floated the idea this week of scrapping all competition points earned in the first two rounds.
It was met with widespread condemnation, and Pearce subsequently said the idea had been scrapped.
But the Sydney Morning Herald reports the discussion is still being had behind closed doors.
If the competition does split into two conferences, which is still an option on the table, then club bosses are reportedly still keen to explore the idea of changing the points earned in the first two games.
“We need to have a grown-up conversation about it,” one club boss told the Herald.
“How is it fair for a team to keep points for beating a team they may not play against in their own zone or conference?
“I understand the teams who have won games and want to keep their points. But if the whole competition structure has changed, you must at least have a conversation about what was the relevance of the first two games.”
PLAYERS’ TEMPERATURES TO BE CONSTANTLY CHECKED ON GAME DAY
The NRL will implement a number of strict new biosecurity measures on the return to training next month, before the competition’s planned resumption on May 28, including checking players’ temperatures at least three times on game day.
The NRL must ensure they have minimised any risk to players, with guidelines off the field that are well beyond the public health measures put in place by the government.
Players will be able to stay at home, with the bubble concept now likely off the table, but could be asked to move elsewhere if they are living in an area which is a virus hotspot.
They will also be asked to self-isolate in the same manner that was floated before the competition was suspended.
“They can stay at home,” V’landys told AAP.
“And as long as we have some pretty strict biosecurity measures … we are pretty confident the risk will be extremely minimal.
“Each player’s temperature could be taken at least three times while they are in … our venues, they will have to wash their hands (and) they will have to undertake other biosecurity measures.”
A meeting between the NRL and broadcasters this week will give a clearer recommendation on season structure, before Wayne Pearce’s Apollo committee reconvene on Friday.
Pearce has already confirmed to AAP that a number of contingency plans will be put in place in case games are postponed due to a contamination. But after watching Australia’s curve begin to flatten, V’landys is increasingly confident that won’t be an issue and any question marks over the return will be erased.
“People have to remember it is six to seven weeks away,” V’landys said. “It’s not tomorrow. People are saying well, we aren’t able to go out to a park. Well in six or seven weeks you might be.
“I’m confident that because the government has done such a great job with getting the infection rate down so low, in six weeks, if people continue to do what they’re doing, it will be significantly down.”
https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...t/news-story/e1a25548baeaea6caff753cb09dab901
