Cairns junior rugby league season hopes remain high after meeting

Cairns District Junior Rugby League club presidents and Queensland Rugby League representatives met on Monday night to discuss the future of the competition.

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Junior rugby league clubs will have until the end of the month to make a decision about the 2020 season.

Cairns District Junior Rugby League club presidents and Queensland Rugby League representatives met on Monday night to discuss the future of the competition.

It came a week after Cairns District Rugby League cancelled their senior competitions, adding the region to a growing list of Queensland leagues to pull the pin.

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There were fears the CDJRL could follow suit, fears which grew after Rockhampton’s junior rugby league cancelled their 2020 season.

But the CDJRL’s club presidents have agreed to wait before making a decision.

Brothers front rower Brock Salecich breaks the Kangaroos' defensive line in the Cairns and District Junior Rugby League semi final match between Brothers and Kangaroos, held at Jones Park, Westcourt. PICTURE: BRENDAN RADKE

CDJRL chairman Jodi Stevens, who last week said clubs should not rush into a decision about the 2020 season, said the clubs had decided to give it until a meeting on June 30 to make a final call.

“There’s a couple of clubs who brought up concerns about the demand on volunteers and coaches, but we’ve got three weeks before we need to make a decision,” she said.

“We’ve asked the clubs to go back to the parents, the volunteers and the coaches to find out what their concerns are and if they want to do.”

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There is still uncertainty about what a competition could look like if it kicked off in mid-July.
The length of the season, number of teams in each age group, and the actual schedule would take some time to tweak, and most will be dependent on the state of coronavirus restrictions in Queensland.

The approval of the field sports COVID Safe plan has shown what training will look like during stage two, and provided more clarity about the situation moving forward.

“We don’t know to what extent we can run a competition but they were mostly positive,” Stevens said.

Stevens said the league would remain in contact with counterparts in Innisfail, Tully and Eacham as they progress.

Originally published as Cairns junior rugby league season hopes remain high after meeting