I can see that date slipping.

I suppose they'd be under fire if they didn't even attempt to develop a fixture structure and start date. But like people are saying, that may be optimistic.

does seem daft doesn't it. Dropping 1895 cup and summer bash this year would pretty much allow for a normal 26 game season playing everyone home and away. Maybe have to squeeze a couple of mid week games in somewhere but avoids farcical loop fixtures.

They'll need to slip in a few midweek games as games inevitably get postponed due to covid outbreaks.

They have to do something, doing nothing isn't an option. Whether this is the right thing is anybody's guess, but it will do for starters and then we/they can see how how it flies.

The football league is instructing clubs to not expect any fans back in grounds this season. So I can't see Rugby getting any fans till at least June as this is the earliest opportunity after the end of the football season.

Once and loop fixtures kinda makes we want to drop the ST for a year...

It's almost a pointless endeavour

Will clubs even want the season to start if there are still no crowds?

Hard to say.

They will still have wages to pay come what may, so it may depend on how the figures stack up between no games played and revenue from streaming. Streamed games may well be the difference for season ticket holders, in as much as, personally, under the circumstances I'm prepared to swap my attendance for the stream and I'd guess that many pay on the gate fans would buy a stream ticket for the games. There is some income involved so I'd guess the clubs would be better off with that scenario.

Without games fans will become 'disengaged' andI feel that fact could easily be the nail in the coffin of RL, to be honest. It's possible clubs may feel they have little choice but to put something on.

Furlough scheme carries on until April so I'd guess some clubs wouldn't be opposed to delaying season start to after then, although I don't think it applies in our case as players are in doing pre-season work so wont be eligible for furlough

Are you sure that's right? If they're part time and furloughed because they can't play it seems a bit much to take them off furlough just for training when they still can't play.

Championship to return Easter weekend. Challenge cup 21st March. 6 team play offs. Think its a sensible approach to be honest.

S
UPDATE ON START OF 2021 SEASON

Betfred Championship and League 1 clubs have targeted the weekend of March 21 as the return date for professional Rugby League outside the Betfred Super League – which will be one year and one week since they were last in action.
Just as the last Rugby League played before the first National Lockdown in March 2020 was in the Challenge Cup, the game is due to return with the First Round of the 2021 Challenge Cup featuring all 13 UK clubs from the Betfred Championship, plus three from League 1 (* - further details below).

That will be followed by the Second Round the following weekend, with the winners of those four ties earning a double reward – a place in the Third Round of the Challenge Cup when the 12 Betfred Super League clubs join the competition on the weekend of April 10-11, and also in the semi-finals of the AB Sundecks 1895 Cup in June, meaning they will be 80 minutes away from a place at Wembley on July 17.

The Betfred Championship will kick off from April 2-4 – the Easter weekend – and run until a Top Six Play-Off Series in September and October.

Each team will play nine of the other 13 teams twice, and the other four once, in the 22-round formula that has been agreed with the clubs – with a decision to be made on a possible 23rd round in the Summer Bash in the coming weeks.

Clubs have already agreed that games played behind closed doors will be streamed live on the RFL’s Our League platforms (app & website) on a pay per view basis, allowing supporters to watch fixtures even if they cannot attend in person – with home season ticket holders given free access to the live stream packages for their club’s league games.

The Championship had been due to kick off on the last weekend in February, but following a short pause in training after the announcement of the latest Lockdown, the clubs agreed with the RFL that delaying the start of the season would be a sensible step given the current public health situation, and a desire to minimise the number of fixtures played behind closed doors before the return of fans to grounds.

For similar reasons, the start of Betfred League 1 has been put back until the weekend of May 8-9. This will still allow each team to play the other nine twice in an 18-round season before a Play-Off series.

Details of promotion and relegation mechanisms between the divisions will be discussed and finalised at a meeting of clubs early next month – ahead of publication of fixtures for Betfred Championship and League 1.

Details of the draw for the first two rounds of the Challenge Cup will be announced shortly. The three Betfred League 1 clubs due to enter are Barrow Raiders, Keighley Cougars and West Wales Raiders.

*Given the unique circumstances of 2021, and with such a lengthy period between the early Challenge Cup rounds and the start of their league season, entry to the Challenge Cup was made optional for the 10 Betfred League 1 clubs, with the RFL stressing the importance of public health and financial considerations.

The majority remained keen to enter, but that would have required an additional, preliminary round on March 14 – which led to the withdrawal of all bar Barrow, Keighley and West Wales, who will now complete a First Round of 16 clubs.

Pretty certain thats the case. IIRC training counts as performing part of their work duties. Although that was under original furlough scheme, it was amended to allow people to come of furlough for reduced hours so there may be scope now for them to be paid for training by the club and paid rest of time by furlough scheme. As soon as season starts then they have to come off furlough totally.

I'm not sure how it works, tbh but if most of our players are part time, that assumes they have another job, from which they may already be furloughed. Can you be furloughed twice?

Yes the furlough is from each individual job. So someone who has several part-time jobs at different companies can be furloughed from any or all of them.