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NRL reaches agreement with Nine, Foxtel.

Broadcasters agree to a 20 round season with a Grand Final to be played on October 25.

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Nine, Foxtel and the NRL have agreed to a reduced 20 round season with a Grand Final to be played on October 25 – three weeks later than originally scheduled.

The NRL plans to resume on May 28 with a full fixture to be determined in the coming weeks, including for the State of Origin.

It follows protracted negotiations and the exit of NRL CEO Todd Greenberg.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys said, “This is a great outcome for our players, fans, partners and stakeholders and I’m extremely appreciative for the cooperation and support from Hugh Marks and Patrick Delany.

“Both have always acted in good-spirit and have demonstrated how partners work together.

“Training will recommence for all clubs on May 4 and stringent biosecurity measures, known as Project Apollo Protocols, will be introduced for players, club officials and staff. These protocols will be more strict than the current public health guidelines and players will face sanctions if they breach the protocols.

“The New Zealand Warriors are expected to arrive in Australia on Sunday and it is anticipated they will serve 14-days quarantine in Tamworth. The NRL is continuing to work with federal and state governments on player travel and border permissions.

“Mr V’landys said it was clearly safer to play now than what it was when the competition proceeded in Round 2.

“It’s safer now to play then it was in Round 2 when we were playing. The daily infection rate in NSW was 25.79% when the last game was played. It has been now less than 1% in NSW for the last 18 days and is continuing to drop. There has also been a significant improvement in the recovery rate, being 75% in NSW and 83% in Australia.

“Our players will be safer under our protocols than they would be as regular members of the community.”

Source: Wide World of Sports, FOX Sports

14 Responses

  1. ABC news reported last night that the government still has not approved the arrival of The Warriors and the NSW government has not given approval for the season and will probably drag it out due to the flouting of social distancing rules by several players.

  4. A few days ago, 9 proposed a 17-week comp while Fox wanted 20 weeks. 9 wanted a 17-week comp because they worried that it may clash with the T20WC in AUstralia (which 9, Fox Cricket holds the rights). Sadly, a 20 week competition is hard for 9. It’s like comparing apples to oranges. If the Cricket goes ahead, then the cricket will be on gem, while the NRL will be shunted to 9Go (SA, VIC, WA).

    1. If the Ashes last year are a guide, cricket matches involving Australia will be bumped to Nine in AFL dominate areas. Having said that l’d be very surprised if the T20WC goes ahead giving that it involves overseas teams. Maybe they can skip the rounds and just have a NZ vs Aus final ?

      1. I think the International Cricket will not go ahead because there is still AFL left to finish off. According to SEN, there is speculation that the AFL will restart in late July with the GF to be held on the 12 Dec.

        2. Whether or not the cricket goes ahead will depend on whether or not the Australian border is open or special exemptions are made to allow players from the countries that are playing in the tournament. Nothing to do with whether AFL or NRL or any other Australian sport is still playing. The Australian borders will not be open by then so it won’t happen.

  5. What a political saga this NRL Apollo Project has been.
    I imagine channel 9 really want their Origin games shown and Fox Sports want their subscribers back, all the same many businesses are close to closure too, some example of one COVID policy fits all should be shown by federal and state governments, but it looks like the NRL and AFL will get their way.

  6. This will be interesting as they completely fail to mention two vital groups – referees / touch judges and other match-day staff.
    All players and Club staff are obviously are full time which means they can go into ‘bubbles’ as required even on medium term basis. The referees are full time but touch judges are part-time. Alot of match-day staff are casual or volunteers. So how will it work for them.
    (It’s kind of outside the TV/broadcast aspect of this site but they are integral to how a competition will run.)

  7. Does everyone remember the classic Simpsons Halloween episode when Homer goes back in time with his electric toaster and sneezes on the dinosaur ,after that the whole future outlook is altered ,all it’ll take is players getting infected and it’ll be all over.

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