The first details of what the 2020 NRL season will look like once rugby league returns
The specifics are yet to be finalised, but the first details of the new NRL season are coming to light ahead of rugby league’s return on May 28th - and a rival sport could shape the 2020 season.
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The length of the NRL season now rests on the T20 World Cup going ahead with a minimum of 15 more games confirmed once the competition resumes on May 28.
The Saturday Telegraph has also learnt the State of Origin will be played on three consecutive Wednesday’s with the first match of the series to take place 10 days after the grand final.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys met with broadcast partners – Foxtel boss Patrick Delany and Nine chief executive Hugh Marks – for delicate discussions Friday afternoon at his Druitt Street office in the CBD. The talks came after Marks’ Nine network delivered a very public reluctance to back the NRL’s plan to restart on May 28 on Thursday night.
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However, that all changed with V’landys confirming the two broadcast partners were committed to the NRL’s planned re-boot.
“There are a few others things to be sorted out but the broadcasters are united with us to start on May 28 as the target date,” V’landys said last night. “They are all on board for that.”
It is understood the competition will feature 15 matches with a final decision on the competition structure to be learnt next week. There is the potential for up to 20 matches to be played. Fox Sports and Nine have the rights to the T20 World Cup – which is under real threat to be postponed or cancelled – to be played in Australia from October.
An ICC meeting Friday indicated a decision on the future of that tournament may not be made until August. However, the NRL want to lock in its length of the competition early next week with the draw to follow days later.
“As far as the competition structure is, we need a bit more information to move it forward in terms of other sporting events and how that affects our broadcast partners,” V’landys said.
Foxtel were pushing for 20 more games to be played while Nine requested just 13 – ensuring every team played each other once. A 17-round season – taking into account the two games already played – will allow for 15 more matches when the competition resumes with two rivalry round blockbusters to end the season after every team has played each other.
That would also keep the grand final at its original October 4 date. V’landys confirmed State of Origin will be played at the end of the season. Depending on how long the regular season lasts, it could mean the final Origin game is played as late as November.
“State of Origin will be after the grand final,” V’landys said. “We need to consult the players and the clubs naturally but that is our plan.”
Nine has publicly declared their reservations about featuring NRL on its network this year in recent weeks. Marks said the network would save $130 million if it did not show matches this year. This followed a scathing press release where a Nine spokesperson savaged the NRL’s hierarchy.
And then on the eve a final agreement being reached, the network issued another statement on Thursday night declaring the game’s planned return on May 28 was “premature” and cited health concerns for their stance.
V’landys labelled recent criticism of the game’s planned return as “scaremongering and alarmist rhetoric”.
The NRL submitted its return to play proposal to Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk. V’landys also joined NRL coaches on a phone hook-up to tell them to plan for a May 4 resumption of training.
A Project Apollo meeting scheduled for Friday was postponed until next week while Warriors players want a guarantee their families will be allowed to join them when they relocate to Australia next month.
Originally published as The first details of what the 2020 NRL season will look like once rugby league returns