Premier Rugby return: fixtures, dates, schedule for revamped season

An 11-round sprint to the club title will kick-off at suburban Brisbane grounds on August 1 under a modified season draw. See every fixture for Premier Rugby’s revamped season.

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Rugby’s back. An 11-round sprint to the club title will kick-off at suburban Brisbane grounds on August 1 now a modified season draw has been hatched.

The road map includes no trial games so Premier Rugby’s opening round, and likely more, will be played under full competition conditions but not for Hospital Cup points.

The coronavirus scourge means time has run out for a full home-and-away draw of 16 rounds but just getting back on the field means anomalies are irrelevant.

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Premier Rugby competition returns on August 1. Picture: Brendan Hertel, QRU.

Traditional rivals GPS and Wests will meet twice for the Hammond-Taylor Shield, 2019 grand finalists Brothers and University of Queensland will play just once at Crosby Park on September 12 and UQ and Bond Uni are the only clubs with two byes.

The Queensland Rugby Union has shrewdly taken individual club circumstances into consideration.

GPS will finish with four away games and a bye so their Ashgrove home ground is free for the changeover to Valley cricket club in early September.

Each club will play nine or 10 matches while the nine club presidents voted in favour of retaining the full three-week finals series leading to a grand final day climax on October 31.

Ballymore is booked as a backstop for the opening three rounds should any club not be up to the logistic requirements of a controlled venue with strict parking rules or drop-off zones, designated entry and exit points and elevated hygiene practices.

University celebrate their victory last year. Picture: AAP/Richard Gosling

While club figures are battle-worn from months of trying to resuscitate the season, Brothers chief executive Matt Kaye expressed Wednesday’s joy at a concrete road map with the season draw.

“Great...let’s get back on the paddock and have some fun,” Kaye said.

“It’s exciting to think the players have target dates to play again and that's for their physical and mental wellbeing.”

The August 1 opening round will pit Brothers against Souths at Chipsy Wood Oval, GPS will visit Sci-Fleet Stadium to play Wests, Norths will host premiers UQ at Courtney Field and Sunnybank will be at home at Oldmac Oval for Easts’ visit.

QRU community rugby general manager Gaven Head said it was an upbeat moment to release a draw after the health hurdles of recent months.

“There’s been a lot of positive buy-in from the club presidents to sort out what best works for them which is why they’ve decided on the three-week finals series rather than a variation,” Head said.

Ballymore will be the unofficial home this season. Picture: Brendan Hertel, QRU

“There will be no trials which is why the opening round, at least, will not be for Hospital Cup points while clubs are having their first contact game.

“Two clubs drawn on a particular day will play in their bubble.”

For example, Bond University does not field a third or fourth grade side so a rival club will have byes in those grades rather than face a third club which only fields teams in the lower grades.

It is still to be determined whether the 100-person limit on outdoor events can be field-based rather than venue-based.

For example, Brothers could play inside the fenced Crosby Park with the 100-person limit while a separate 100-person environment could exist on the club's lower oval at the same time.

PREMIER RUGBY DRAW

(Home team listed first)

Round One...August 1

Souths v Brothers, Sunnybank v Easts, GPS v Wests, Norths v UQ, Bond Uni (bye)

Round Two...August 8

Bond Uni v Sunnybank, Brothers v Norths, Wests v Easts, GPS v Souths, UQ (bye)

Round Three...August 15

Bond Uni v Norths, GPS v Brothers, UQ v Easts, Sunnybank v Souths, Wests (bye)

Round Four...August 22

Brothers v Bond Uni, Easts v GPS, Sunnybank v UQ, Norths v Wests, Souths (bye)

Round Five...August 29

Bond Uni v Easts, Wests v Brothers, GPS v Sunnybank, UQ v Souths, Norths (bye)

Round Six...September 5

Souths v Bond Uni, Easts v Norths, GPS v UQ, Wests v Sunnybank, Brothers (bye)

Round Seven...September 12

Brothers v UQ, Wests v Bond Uni, Souths v Easts, Norths v GPS, Sunnybank (bye)

Round Eight...September 19

Brothers v Souths, Easts v Sunnybank, Wests v GPS, UQ v Norths, Bond Uni (bye)

Round Nine...September 26

Sunnybank v Bond Uni, Norths v Brothers, Easts v Wests, Souths v GPS, UQ (bye)

Round 10...October 3

Souths v Norths, Bond Uni v GPS, Sunnybank v Brothers, UQ v Wests, Easts (bye)

Round 11...October 10

Bond Uni v UQ, Brothers v Easts, Norths v Sunnybank, Wests v Souths, GPS (bye)

Semi-finals: October 17

Preliminary final: October 24

Grand final: October 31