The prospect of increasing the number of interchanges and hosting games at a limited number of venues will be discussed this week as Super League aims to take its first steps towards restarting. Clubs are targeting a mid-August return, with the Grand Final pencilled in for November or December.
A series of meetings in the coming days includes a gathering of the laws committee on Wednesday, when increasing the number of interchanges allowed in Super League games will be discussed. Teams are allowed eight interchanges but with the prospect of multiple games each week a meeting of coaches last week indicated a desire to an increase this season to reduce the burden on players.
The game’s clinical advisory group, comprising its leading medical figures, will meet on Monday before outlining plans to clubs this week as to how to safely resume full-contact training.
That includes a comprehensive plan on testing, ensuring venues are medically secure and advice on how to manage players returning from furlough. There are concerns among coaches that players could have as little as two weeks’ training, with clubs unlikely to take players off furlough until the end of July to minimise the financial impact.
The Rugby Football League said on Sunday games were likely to be at a limited number of venues, with Headingley understood to be one of those under consideration. ”We’ve started to put together plans for which venues could deliver what we want,” the RFL’s chief regulatory officer, Karen Moorhouse, said. “We’ll know which ones it will be very quickly.”
Reports on Friday suggested the R number for Covid-19 was potentially above 1 in the north-west, where a number of Super League clubs are based. Moorhouse said: “We will be driven by government guidance on that and we haven’t been advised anything has changed in that area. The Department for Culture, Media and Sport have always said they reserve the right to pause or take sports back a stage if they see fit.”