NRL 2020 season restart: Rival coaches line up to shut down Nick Politis’ reset proposal
Rival coaches are lining up to stop the NRL from performing a stunning backflip that would give premiers the Sydney Roosters an upper hand as they chase a rare threepeat, writes PAUL KENT.
NRL
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Melbourne Storm coach Craig Bellamy has questioned the game’s backroom dealings after last week’s declaration that teams would retain their competition points took a sharp sideways turn over the weekend.
Bellamy is one of a number of coaches wondering whether the game is about to do a sudden about face on last week’s declaration from ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys that the competition points from the first two rounds would stand.
The speculation about starting from scratch appears to have been revived in the wake of Channel 9’s stunning attack on the NRL last week, which criticised NRL management for a number of failings, including its most recent failure to include Nine in any talks about the resumption of the season.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys immediately apologised to Nine and will head into high-level talks on Monday with Nine chairman Hugh Marks in a bid to save the broadcast deal.
Significantly, NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg has been sidelined from the meetings.
Some coaches are beginning to believe Nine is keen for a controversial revamp to the competition model, including a two-conference system, which would see the first two rounds scrapped and a new competition launched.
Bellamy was one of a number of coaches confused by the about-face.
“Our chairman said a week ago that the points are going to stand,” Bellamy said.
“But there’s still people digging in the background.
“I’m not quite sure where it is coming from but it shows a lack of respect.”
Bellamy pointed out that when the season shut down after round two the NRL announced it was postponing the season.
“To me, the season was not ended, it was postponed,” he said.
“Those were the words they used.”
The coaches have rallied after Roosters supremo Nick Politis questioned the legitimacy of a competition resuming with the first two rounds already played still included.
Politis said decisions made before the postponement were made with a full season in mind and a shortened season made it virtually impossible for teams near the bottom of the table to make the top four.
Bellamy said there was hurt felt on both sides of the argument, though.
“Nick made the point they didn’t play Boyd Cordner because he thought it was going to be a full season,” Bellamy said.
“Adam O’Brien expected to have his young hooker, young (Jayden) Brailey, there for the whole season but he can’t now because he did his ACL in the second round.
“There’s other people out there digging to destabilise the decision of the chairman (V’Landys).”
Politis claimed the Roosters intentionally rested Cordner with a full 25-round season in mind, along with his representative commitments, in a bid to get him through the season.
It was a decision the Roosters would not have made if they had known the season was going to be shortened.
Politis argued that if the draw was changed, as is likely, the season must start again.
“It’s like changing the race from a Melbourne Cup (two miles) to a Doncaster (one mile) after it has already started,” he said.
“It becomes meaningless and makes it almost mathematically impossible for the bottom sides to make the top four.”
Yet Bellamy pointed out the decision to rest Cordner was the club’s decision made with the coronavirus already weighing heavily on the season.
The Roosters rested Cordner for their second round loss to Manly, for example, even though fans were locked out of the game because of growing fears of the virus. Some competitions around the world had already been suspended.
Bellamy said teams should not be penalised for winning early.
“Some of those teams worked pretty hard to get their wins, or to get their one win,” he said.
“You’ve got to get your pre-season right and get the start of your season right and that hard work you do, there’s got to be a reward for that.”
The conference system was discussed at an innovation committee meeting last week that included NRL coaches Trent Robinson (Roosters) and Wayne Bennett (Rabbitohs).
Robinson presented the option at a phone hook-up to coaches the following day, which Bennett failed to call in, where the coaches aggressively argued that the points should still stand.
That appears to have again shifted with Nine demanding an input into how the resumed season might look.
Originally published as NRL 2020 season restart: Rival coaches line up to shut down Nick Politis’ reset proposal