NRL targets crowd return by round 6

The NRL wants crowds of up to 500 people attend games by round six and then thousands packed into the stands after round 10.

The NRL is hoping to have thousands of fans back at the game from Round 10 onwards

The NRL is aiming to have crowds of up to 500 people attend games by round six and then thousands packed into the stands after round 10 as they step up attempts to throw open the gates to their fans.

Club bosses were told on Wednesday that depending on the state jurisdiction, fans and corporate supporters could begin attending games in less than three weeks. It is understood a committee has been formed to decide how the seats would be allocated.

The hope is that the crowds can be escalated beyond 10,000 after round 10. The crowd goals come as ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys is ready to take a large step towards repairing the frosty relationship between the clubs and head office by bringing a senior club official inside the NRL tent.

The Australian understands Brisbane chief executive Paul White and former New Zealand Warriors boss Jim Doyle have support to fill the position, which is yet to be created but would be designed to act as a liaison with clubs and mentor to existing chief executives.

The move comes as the NRL and clubs continue to haggle over a compensation package designed to ensure the latter stay afloat during the COVID-19 crisis.

It is understood the parties are still several hundred thousand dollars apart ahead of a crucial meeting next week between head office and club bosses.

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The NRL has tabled a deal worth upwards of $100 million for the remainder of this season, the sticking point whether the clubs receive all of the money in cash.

The NRL has offered to cover costs such as ground hire to help make up the shortfall, but club bosses would prefer to receive the money and use it at their own discretion.

The clubs and NRL have been in negotiations for weeks and the slow recent progress hints at why V’landys and others are keen to have an official with recent club experience involved at Rugby League Central.

White is one of the most experienced chief executives in the game, having spent a decade at the Broncos – a period in which he has helped turn the club into a financial juggernaut with annual revenues of more than $40 million and profits measured in the millions.

He had already agreed to leave the Broncos at the end of the season, but both he and the club were given cause for a rethink when the game and the Broncos were ravaged by the impact of COVID-19.

There was talk that he would stay at the club to help guide it through the rebuild. However, it is understood they are yet to reach an agreement beyond this season, leaving White free to take a job at Rugby League Central if an offer is extended.

White would have the support of club bosses, having been heavily involved in the negotiations with the NRL over club funding. Along with South Sydney’s Blake Solly and Melbourne’s Dave Donaghy – both of whom have been mentioned as potential contenders to take over at the Broncos – White has driven talks that have given the clubs genuine hope that they can emerge from the coronavirus crisis with their businesses largely intact.

Doyle has experience in both clubland and head office, having helped the game in recent years with myriad issues on an ad hoc basis.

Like White, he is highly regarded in the corridors of power. V’landys has made one of his many missions to improve the relationship between the clubs and head office, speaking often and effusively about the need to form better relationships.

Importantly, whoever fills the new position will also act as a conduit between the clubs and Andrew Abdo, acting chief executive. Abdo, who has been touted as the favourite to be given the chief executive job on a permanent basis, would then be able to focus on ensuring the game’s financial wellbeing.

His latest mission is to get crowds back at games and the NRL has formed a working group to make that happen involving officials from five of the most powerful clubs.

The group has been charged with deciding how entry to games should be prioritised when crowds are eventually allowed through the gates.

V’landys wants that to happen sooner rather than later and it is understood the clubs were told on Wednesday that the NRL would work with government to make it happen.