I do think the season will now be suspended given that players are self isolating, the Government is likely to ban large gatherings and the sport can't afford to play behind closed doors but when did we start ignoring the experts and listening to the likes of Casty, Rooney, Neville, Caprice, Morgan, etc on complicated issues that they know absolutely nothing about?

Keep the games on. Allow 400 passholders to attend (drawn out randomly and asked if they want to attend), and sit/stand spaced out. Let SKY broadcast every game, 1 on Thursday, 1 on Friday, 2 on Saturday and 2 on Sunday. Get them to pay towards the additional games to cover team's lost revenue.

Would look good to SKY in terms of next TV deal, viewing figures would go up with sport fans keen for a fix, and potential new audience. Gives people hope and a mentality of now allowing things to break society down!

Or....that's the exact thing we shouldn't do

Good post.

I’m fine to leave it to the experts- if they say we can play and there is no issue with crowds then play on. Playing behind closed doors just won’t work for rugby league as clubs need the income. Where are Sky going to get the money to pay more when people are more likely to be cancelling subscriptions with no live sport. Just wont happen.

It may be being naïve but, if clubs could open small sections within their grounds, to limit the numbers actually standing / sitting together and assuming of course that clubs were able to field a decent side, would this not allow the game to continue ?
There may be issues with people all wanting to leave the ground at the same time but, this cant be insurmountable.

I'd much rather see sport coming up with "creative" ideas to keep going, rather than just pull the shutters down.

You would think that it would be possible to test players frequently enough to allow them to play, assuming that there is the desire for this to happen ?

I agree with this

The issue with crowds is that it inevitably takes valuable resources away from the medical world. You need at minimum St. John's Ambulance plus two team Doctors just to get a game on and that's before you start seriously resourcing for a crowd in the 000s/0000s. In the (admittedly unlikely) event that either a player gets seriously injured or (highly unlikely) there is an incident of some sort in the crowd, that's ambulances etc. that are being taken away from an already stretched NHS.

If there is scope to get a game on, I think the solution should be stream all (non-SKY) games online. Season ticket holders get free access - all clubs have databases' of ST holders these days, so shouldn't be that hard - and everyone else can buy access for £10/20 a game or similar. You ask those watching to donate an extra £5 or £10 that they might have spent on a programme or food and drink. For many reasons it is not going to generate the same revenue as a fixture played with open doors, but at least some revenue could be generated and the game kept moving forward.

I think some of the better played players in the sport need to consider deferring portions of their salary until later in the year or their contract - James Graham seems to be making similar noises in the NRL about this.

To postpone the season something would have to be sacrificed. Maybe the challenge cup should sit out this year and return in 2021, or scrap the ashes.

Scrap the grand final, make it League Leaders Champions

I'd keep the GF as it generates cash but scrap the playoffs top 2 straight to the GF

season on hold to april 3rd according to hdm reporter

^^^^ Now confirmed.

https://www.superleague.co.uk/article/1 ... suspension

https://www.superleague.co.uk/article/1 ... suspension

The Rugby Football League and Super League issue a joint statement on season suspension.

The Rugby Football League and Super League Europe today announce a suspension of fixtures in the Betfred Super League season, initially until 3rd April, during which time the season’s structure and fixture rescheduling will be considered.

This follows the latest Government advice regarding social contact and mass gatherings.

The Super League clubs discussed a range of contingency plans with the RFL at their board meeting in Huddersfield, and the situation will be reviewed with broadcasters and sponsors throughout the initial suspension.

These changes will also apply across other competitions including the Championship, League 1, Betfred Women’s Super League and the community game, with the RFL to have further discussions of the implications at meetings of Championship and League 1 clubs and community board over the next couple of days.

I think Magic will get cancelled and other fixtures will be allowed to be played on CC weekend that with some other re-jigging will mean the season only extends by a couple of weeks, all fixtures still fixed with just the missed fixtures moved in the the afore mentioned gaps.
As an aside, I'm the chairman of a community club, it cost us around £1k a month even if we don't open the doors and have no matches. Hopefully there is going to be some help for us, at this time I've not had any correspondence/communication directly to our club from the governing body, I hope we are not just an after thought as the community game is specifically mentioned in the RFL announcement.