Apr 10th, 2020

Apr 10th, 2020

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard has poured cold water on the NRL's hopes of continuing the season, saying he's yet to give the league the go-ahead.

Mr Hazzard revealed that while the NRL had previously approached him on the topic of resuming the season amid the COVID-19 crisis, that no further conversations had taken place between the two parties since.

"The NRL came to see me five weeks ago and there have been no further discussions. I can't comment," he said.

"If the NRL want to go ahead, happy to have the chat and make sure with that medical advice if it is appropriate.

NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard says he has not heard from the NRL in five weeks (Getty)

"The only meeting that I have had with about a month ago with Todd Greenberg and Peter V'landys.

"This was before they made a decision to shut the game down so I have not had any discussions at this stage."

Mr Hazzard's comments were followed by the Australian Government's Deputy Chief Medical Officer, Paul Kelly, saying that the NRL would need permission in order to proceed with its season.

"They're generally very fit young men and women, so they themselves are not at high risk," he said.

"As I understand it, the proposal is to continue to play in empty stadia, so they would essentially be in their own little microcosm. For them it might not be a big problem, but there are other people around the teams.

According to the Australian Government's Deputy CMO, Wayne Bennett is in a vulnerable group to COVID-19 (Getty)

"Wayne Bennett I think is in his 70s, so he would be in a vulnerable group. Ricky Stuart with the mighty Raiders, he could also be in a potentially vulnerable group, although he's a bit younger.

"Thinking about the team, not just the players, but those that are the support around them is important.

"They're making their plans for the road out and I encourage them to do so in other sports, but whether May is the time will remain to be seen and they'll definitely need to get some permission to do that."

Both the CMO and the NSW Health Minister's comments followed ARL Commissioner Wayne Pearce's announcement yesterday that the 2020 NRL season would recommence on May 28.

"The details of the competition structure, we haven't got to that as yet because the landscape's changing very very quickly in terms of protocols around governments and government boundaries are," Pearce said.

ARL Commissioner Wayne Pearce yesterday revealed that the NRL would restart on May 28 (Nine)

"So that will feed into the complexity of the structure and how the structure looks. So today what we landed on was a starting date and we discussed possible structures, possible competition structures, but we haven't finalised what that looks like as yet."

However, despite not receiving Hazzard's blessings yet, the NRL does have the backing of the NSW government.

"The NRL is so important to the psyche of Australians, at a time when we're all doing it tough in self-isolation," NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro told Nine News on Wednesday.

"We love the game, it's tribal, it brings the best out of Australians and right now, if there is a code that can help us through this period, it is the NRL."