What started as a creative solution to a very complex problem has descended into chaos for the NRL, a football code that is no stranger to creating headlines but one which is finding itself under increasing scrutiny.
The crisis manual at NRL headquarters, better known as Project Apollo, must make for interesting reading. However, in contrast to its innovative prelude, the subsequent missing chapters have left key players in federal and state politics – alongside the general population – divided.
NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian had been vocally supportive of a return of major sports in her state, providing an effective lift-off for the mission in its early stages. Her deputy, John Barilaro, has continued to back the league’s reactivation plans, but the support has not been shared by the premiers of neighbouring states, nor by some of the country’s chief medical advisors.
But on Friday morning, Berejiklian backed away and when asked whether her government had approved league’s return on ABC radio, she responded with a decisive “no”.
Despite the premier’s reluctance, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys remains adamant plans for the NRL will move ahead. V’landys is riding on the strength of the “written permission” of NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller combined with a promise by the NRL to stay committed to the health and safety of players and the community at large.
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The NRL now finds itself in an awkward stand-off amid wavering levels of government support and cannot rely on the usual obligation of major broadcasters. The code has been embroiled in a myriad of issues over the past few days; none of them have moved the sport closer to finding a solution.
Last week’s scathing broadside from Channel Nine – one of the game’s major broadcast partner – fuelled speculation the station was not committed to a resuscitation of the 2020 season. In reality for the NRL, it was like one of Apollo’s astronauts being left behind in space without a lifeline.
V’landys has now been charged with sweetening the apparent oversight of the game’s broadcasters not being invited to the NRL table and striking a deal where a revised competition can be televised viably, in an environment where the appetite of advertisers has drastically waned.
The message from V’landys is set: 28 May is a target date. What is not clear, is how the NRL plans to execute the game’s revival in the next six weeks.
It is evident that is reliant on the continued deceleration of Covid-19 cases. Opponents cite the bold ambition of V’landys and his innovation committee as arrogant and flying in the face of expert medical advice. How can one justify hundreds of adults breaking social distancing rules each weekend to smother each other in tackles while the rest of the country is told to remain a metre and a half away from everyone, including close friends and family? Who do the NRL think they are?
The innovation committee recently unveiled the wild notion of an NRL island or forced self-isolation hub as a way to adhere to health regulations and to guarantee the safety of players and the community. As the level of infection in Australia has subsided, so too has the scope and creativity of the NRL’s solution.
The preferred option is to host the competition between ANZ Stadium and Penrith, with Sydney-based teams allowed to live day-to-day within their own homes. With Victoria and Queensland rolling out tighter measures to control the virus, players from the Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans as well as Melbourne Storm would need to relocate to NSW unless the restrictions are lifted in the coming weeks.
And then there is the issue of the New Zealand-based Warriors. Despite a possible return touted as early as this weekend, the Warriors remain in limbo – uncertain of what international quarantine requirements will be imposed by countries; unsure of where their new home will be; doubtful that they will be granted permission to train when condemned to a 14-day self-isolation period after touching down in Sydney.
While headlines are swirling around hypothetical plots, the NRL needs to urgently chart its plan and firm its course. It needs to rapidly unify its major stakeholders and create equality between the teams. It needs to harvest the support of its sponsors. And it needs to gain the green light of government.
Meanwhile, its rival, the AFL, is due to announce plans for a restart at the end of April. The somewhat sleeping giant has made no waves at the peak of the crisis and might just surpass the NRL; not through ingenuity or innovation, but simply by taking a path of less resistance in a climate of uncertainty.