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The NRL is planning to restart its season on May 28 amid the coronavirus pandemic, while it has been accused by the Nine Network of financial "mismanagement" and breaking its lucrative broadcast deal.
Key points:
- The NRL is hopeful the 2020 season may resume next month after it was suspended because of coronavirus
- The Nine Network claimed the NRL had wasted "hundreds of millions" that had been invested in the game
- It accused the NRL of being a "bloated head office" that had ignored the needs of the clubs and players
The ARL Commission (ARLC) made the announcement about wanting the premiership season to resume late next month following a meeting with the NRL's innovations committee on Thursday.
The decision was announced after Nine released a statement on Thursday morning taking aim at the NRL's financial management, which it claimed had left clubs and players facing uncertain futures.
"The [coronavirus] situation is changing dramatically and we need to get moving," ARLC chairman Peter V'landys said.
"It is in the best interests of our clubs, our players, our stakeholders and importantly our fans that the competition resumes as quickly and as safely as possible.
"We have said right from the start that what we say today may need to change tomorrow.
"We will be flexible, and if the trend changes or if government restrictions change then so will we. The health and safety of our players and the general public remains the absolute priority."
The ARLC endorsed the grand final being played as a standalone fixture in Sydney and State of Origin remaining in a three-match format this season.
There is also a preference towards completing the remaining rounds of a regular NRL season rather than playing in conferences.
"What we're leaning towards is a competition structure that looks more aligned with what we're currently got," ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce said.
"We've currently got support from the New South Wales Government in terms of if we adhere to public health guidelines and we make sure that our players follow those guidelines, we are able to train and play.
"Provided that we have strict measures around testing of players, and put some other protocols in place that allow us to minimise the risk of infection within the playing group and community."
Pearce, who headed up the NRL's innovations committee, said the league had not worked out when the season would be completed.
"That's the piece of work we need to do that's subject to a number of variables, one of which is government regulations," he said.
"If they're stringent and players aren't able to go back to their home environment that makes it difficult to expect them to be away from their kids for a long period of time.
"I think there's a lot of positives with the competition up and running again. The players, staff at clubs, services to clubs that will benefit.
"There's a lot of people that will be happy with the decision to get the competition running again."
The NRL season was suspended after two rounds last month because of coronavirus fears, with the league having made the decision a day after the AFL announced it was shutting down its competition.
Nine launches scathing attack on NRL
Nine said it had been left out of discussions on what the NRL season should look like if it resumed in the coming months.
"At Nine we had hoped to work with the NRL on a solution to the issues facing rugby league in 2020, brought on so starkly by COVID-19," the Nine Network statement read.
"But this health crisis in our community has highlighted the mismanagement of the code over many years."
Nine said it had provided the NRL with a substantial financial investment during its tenure as the competition's free-to-air broadcaster.
"Nine has invested hundreds of millions in this game over decades and we now find they have profoundly wasted those funds with very little to fall back on to support the clubs, the players and supporters," the statement read.
"In the past the NRL have had problems and we've bailed them out many times, including a $50 million loan to support clubs when the last contract was signed.
"It would now appear that much of that has been squandered by a bloated head office completely ignoring the needs of the clubs, players and supporters.
"We now find ourselves with a contract that is unfulfilled by the code. We hoped we could talk through a long-term plan."
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Pearce said the ARL Commission wanted to continue working with the Nine Network.
"They're a key partner for us and we intend to fulfil our contractual obligations," he said.
"We hope to maintain a working relationship that will work for both parties."
Nine's statement came after weeks of speculation surrounding the future of current NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg.
Greenberg is currently in the final year of his contract.
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AAP/ABC
Topics: sport, rugby-league, nrl, covid-19, sydney-2000, canberra-2600, brisbane-4000, townsville-4810, robina-4226, newcastle-2300, wollongong-2500, melbourne-3000, new-zealand
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