The NRL's resumption is still four days away but ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys has already identified the game's next mission: get crowds back in the stands by July 1.
“We’re on the moon," V'landys told the Herald on Sunday. "We’re looking for Mars now."
The NRL will become Australia's first football code and one of the world's first major competitions to restart, when Brisbane and Parramatta relaunch the season on Thursday night following weeks of biosecurity planning led by V'landys and the governing body’s Project Apollo committee.
The indefatigable chairman has been at the centre of securing what for so long seemed an ambitious May 28 kick-off, fronting at times tense negotiations with broadcasters over a new television deal expected to be announced this week.
Teams will play behind closed doors, as they did in round two before the season was suspended. But, as coronavirus restrictions ease, the NRL has its sights set on taking the next step much earlier than anticipated.
The league will watch closely the impact of the NSW Government's decision to permit up to 50 people in restaurants and cafes from June 1 and, if there is no spike in the infection rate, the plan is to lobby for crowds to return to NRL games in limited numbers by the following month.
"We based our return on analysis and information on infection rates and how the coronavirus really caused the damage it did," V'landys said. "When you look at it, 60 per cent came from offshore and even today the four positives all came from overseas.
The NRL hopes crowds will be back sooner than many have thought.Credit: Getty
"You take the Ruby Princess out and that's less risk again. So in real terms, if the infection rate stays as low as it does and nothing new is coming in from overseas, the risk is going to be pretty low. So why wouldn't we have crowds? We'll do that in the same fashion we did with the return of the game.
"The next test for us is once they relax the measures, we want to see in the next three weeks if the infection rate is altered in any fashion. If it hasn't, we'll be pushing very hard for crowds ... capped crowds. We're looking at July 1."
V'landys is eager to get sponsors and corporate guests back into venues to help drive revenue, as well as have fans themselves to support their teams.
NRL clubs are already asking questions about whether they might be allowed to have people attend in venues' corporate facilities by next week, after the government announced an easing of restrictions on licensed clubs from June 1 that would potentially allow up to 500 patrons inside as long as they complied with social distancing measures.
"Importantly, a club's patron capacity may further increase beyond 50 patrons – in increments of 50, up to a maximum of 500 – in accordance with the number of restaurants and cafes inside the club," Clubs NSW announced on Friday. "For example, a club with two restaurants and one cafe can admit up to 150 people at any one time, on the basis of one person per four square metres and on the condition that those eateries are open at all relevant times."
NRL clubs are eager to know whether venues with multiple large corporate rooms, such as Bankwest Stadium, would qualify under those rules.
V'landys said the revised NRL schedule had been drawn up with the prospect of crowds in mind.
"That's why we pushed the grand final to October 25 and the State of Origin to November because we're confident we'll have crowds as long as the infection rate stays at the level it is now," he said.
"But the next two to three weeks will be crucial in our analysis. We'll start talking to governments in that regard. We need to justify our case taking into account the next two or three weeks."
The venues for NRL games have been named up until round nine, to be staged July 9-12. Beyond that point the draw lists them as TBA.