Covid-19 coronavirus blockade: Australian Health Minister Brad Hazzard responds to NRL plans to return to the 2020 season

Australian Health Minister Brad Hazzard revealed that the Government of New South Wales has not granted NRL authorization to restart its 2020 season, and has had no official communication with the code for four weeks.

The Federal Government and the Queensland Government have also spoken out to realign the NRL with revelations that the code has not received any special exemptions from coronavirus restrictions.

The extraordinary clap comes after the NRL’s innovation committee announced Thursday that the season’s third round will continue in seven weeks on May 28.

The NRL players will reportedly return to training in just three weeks, with the New Zealand Warriors ready to travel and remain in Australia possibly until September.

However, the NRL’s bold plans were thrown into uncertain territory after Hazzard said he had had no official communication with rugby league officials since before the season was indefinitely suspended last month.

The NRL movement has divided the rugby league community with many fans rejoicing over the bold decision, while others have warned against the decision to go ahead despite strict self-isolation protocols across the country.

Hazzard’s revelation has increased pressure on the NRL to reevaluate the return on May 28, which was sealed by Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V’landys on Thursday.

When asked if he had approved the NRL to return in May, Hazzard said, “I haven’t. But I can’t comment.”

Hazzard said he was open to meet with NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg and V’landys to discuss the possible return of the rugby league, but emphasized that it had not yet been determined that it was “appropriate” for the game to start again. .

“I think you have to find a balance here and if this is the correct balance,” he said.

“If the NRL wants to go ahead, happy to have the chat and make sure, with medical advice, if it is appropriate or not.

“The only meeting I’ve had that I can talk about is about a month ago, with Todd Greenberg and Peter V’landys to talk about it. But that was before they really made the decision to close the game.” Therefore, I have not had any discussion with them at this time. “

Queensland Health Minister Steven Miles also said he had not spoken to the NRL or given permission for the code to return to action.

“That does not mean that they have not been in contact with parts of the government and I am sure they are,” he said, according to Courier mail.

“They are trying to find ways to restart competition in a healthy and safe way. I hope I know what that is, I am sure the director of health is available to provide advice.”

“I am not aware of what the plan is.”

• Covid19.govt.nz – The official government Covid-19 advisory website

The Federal Government also expects the NRL to have to reevaluate his return earlier in the season, according to Finance Minister Mathias Cormann.

Cormann told Sky News that coronavirus restrictions will not be eased to allow professional sports bodies, including the NRL, to continue.

“I am sure the NRL would not want to breach the plans, I think they would not want to breach the legal requirements,” he said.

“I suspect they are making assumptions about where Australia would be at the time, and that’s fair enough for them. I mean, of course, they have to plan.”

Some Australian sports commentators described the contrast between the comments and the NRL’s bold remarks on Thursday as “astounding.”

Hazzard’s wake-up call for the NRL comes after outspoken commentators Ray Hadley and Peter FitzSimons also raked the code over the coals on Thursday.

Hadley, a veteran rugby league radio and television commentator for decades, said Thursday that the game’s decision to return so early was “whimsical.”

“It is inexplicable, it is strange, it is strange,” Hadley said. A current issue.

“It is as if someone has coronavirus in the NRL.

“To say that we would return before May 21 or 28, I thought it was fantastic.

“Every solution that has come up so far, I scratch my head thinking about how it’s going to work.”

“First of all we will put them on an island in Queensland, Tangalooma or something, then we will put them somewhere else. Then we will have a conference with 15 teams, we will put them before there are no crowds.

“The NRL obviously knows they are in financial trouble, they need the money, they need the money from the broadcast partners, but they are not going to get it with a gun to their heads.”

The NRL is reportedly launching among three highly contrasting plans for what the 2020 season will look like.

The latest proposal being considered by the Apollo Project committee is reportedly proceeding with a 22-game season, for the game to fulfill most of its contractual obligations to Channel 9 and Foxtel’s Fox League broadcasters.

The innovations committee previously recommended two proposals for a much shorter season that would see a grand finale contested in October.

One plan proposed a 15-game season where the 16 clubs will play each other once before a final series.

The other proposal required the competition to be divided into two conferences with clubs playing two rival teams twice, forming a 16-game season at home and away, including the two rounds already played.

On Thursday, Warriors CEO Cameron George told the Herald that the club has “a number of challenges to overcome” ahead of the NRL’s disputed comeback, including the need to find out how they can compete, given the current trans-Tasmanian border. restrictions

“There are a number of challenges to overcome, none greater than the fact that we have to travel internationally and the number of restrictions and policy requirements that we have to adopt,” said George. “The NRL is working very hard behind the scenes with government agencies on how that might be, although it is still unclear.”

“We are very interested in exploring the opportunity to be in the competition [and] we are very interested in understanding what our challenges are around our unique situation, based in New Zealand. “

FitzSimons earlier lashed out at the game’s plans to continue a contact sport at a time when the rest of the country operates under strict self-isolation restrictions.

“If their medical advice is that there is no risk to them and their families by fighting for eighty minutes, why do the rest of us seriously have to be within 1.5 meters of each other,” FitzSimons wrote in Twitter as part of a series of responses to Twitter followers.

“I don’t think the NRL has read the room on this.

“If everyone can be tried and then totally isolated, they could be. But mixing and mingling with the family at home goes against EVERYTHING the government is trying to drill into our noggins, yes?

“Why is any other contact industry closed, every border closed, the police patrolling the beaches, but making an exception for the league?”