Michael Chammas
The ARL Commission is tomorrow expected to sign off on the return of the NRL competition from as early as May 21.
The Herald has been told by sources with knowledge of the negotiations that a Sydney-based, 15-round season is the preferred option of the two proposals that will be discussed at the NRL innovation committee meeting tomorrow morning.
Following the meeting, a recommendation will be put to the commission and a decision on the structure and future of the game is likely to be announced.
The alternative proposal, which was met with resistance from some of the players on an RLPA phone hook-up on Wednesday, is a two-conference system, splitting the competition in half.
After high-level discussions between the NSW government and NRL powerbrokers, Sydney-based players will be allowed to remain at home when the competition resumes, which was well-received by the RLPA, whose members were reluctant to undergo solitary confinement.
Border restrictions will see the North Queensland Cowboys, Brisbane Broncos, Gold Coast Titans, Melbourne Storm and New Zealand Warriors move to Sydney for at least two weeks, when it is hoped they may be able to return home and resume travelling interstate on chartered flights on game day.
The Knights and Raiders are expected to stay in Newcastle and Canberra respectively and travel to Sydney on game day.
The Warriors, who will be given exemptions to travel restrictions by the New Zealand and Australian governments, will have to isolate together for 14 days, but they will be able to train.
The NRL is optimistic of the competition returning on May 21, although May 28 seems the more likely of the two dates.
Delicate negotiations between the governing body and its broadcast partners were held this week and will continue, with State of Origin now firming to be played in the traditional mid-season format.
If the NRL succeeds in its plans for a May return, the grand final will be played in its traditional time slot, the first Sunday in October.
Twenty-four hours ago, the NRL was preparing to isolate teams in a western Sydney bubble, but those plans have been significantly affected by the state government’s overnight assessment of the crisis.
The government has expressed its confidence in the NRL to respond to any changes in the health situation.
A secondary outbreak could see the NRL return to the bubble model later in the year, although the advice it has received predicts the daily increase in COVID-19 cases will be less than one per cent by the time of the NRL's planned return in mid-May.
The NRL is hopeful that by mid-June all states will relax their restrictions and it will be able to return to playing games at venues around the country, albeit without crowds in attendance.
