If a decision is reached at the ARLC meeting on April 21, it’s likely teams will be granted permission to return to training the following week from April 27. That would give clubs a four-week mini pre-season before the week leading into the return of the season on Thursday, May 28. While some consideration had been given to staging the competition in country regions like the Hunter, Mudgee and Dubbo, the distance to the nearest testing and results facilities have all but killed off those plans. ARLC chairman Peter V'landys and NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg. Credit:AAP There is strong merit to accommodating players at four different hubs within one big bubble, with Kingscliff, Gold Coast and Brisbane all being discussed as part of a master plan to play matches in south-east Queensland. The NRL is working with the Queensland government to gain an exemption – similar to the one NSW signed off on last week – that would allow the state to host all 16 teams. Disneyland may be the happiest place on earth, but one NRL innovation committee member is promising the bubble will be ‘‘the safest place on earth’’ in regards to avoiding COVID-19.

It’s expected quarantine stations will be set up within accommodation facilities to isolate players who show even the slightest symptoms to minimise the risk of spread. The NRL will also seek military advice, likening the project of having to isolate players from the community and their families to long-term deployment of navy sailors. ‘‘If one of the conferences goes down with the virus, then you’ll isolate that conference for a number of weeks, then you try and figure out how you make those games up whilst not stopping the competition,’’ Greenberg said. ‘‘We have all that modelled. You can be assured that we’ve figured out how many five-day turn-arounds it would be and how many mid-week games you’d need to make up games.’’ Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video NRL to go hard for Warriors

The NRL has opened discussions with the New Zealand government and is hellbent on the Warriors being on deck for the start of the anticipated season return. While Greenberg was adamant the game would do everything in its power to ensure the Warriors were exempted from travel restrictions in New Zealand and Australia, he admitted the NRL would have to go on without them in a 15-team competition should the governing body fail. ‘‘We could play without them, but we don’t want to,’’ Greenberg said. ‘‘We want to play a competition with all 16 clubs. We’ll be working hard on the Warriors behalf with government on both sides of the Tasman to make sure they can play a part in 2020. We’ll be doing everything possible to ensure the season is played in its full capacity with all teams, and that includes the Warriors. That’s for two reasons. One, we want the competition to be pure. But two, to genuinely reflect the sacrifices they made earlier in the year.’’ The Warriors players haven’t been able to leave their homes, except for an hour of exercise per day, since they returned from Australia two weeks ago. Their 14-day isolation ends on Wednesday, however, New Zealand’s national lockdown means they can only go to the supermarket for essentials. The New Zealand Warriors players earlier in the season. Credit:AAP

League to up heat on broadcasters Loading With the NRL eyeing a return within the next six to eight weeks, the governing body is bracing itself for some robust negotiations with broadcasters in the coming weeks over whether the product is worth what they signed for. The NRL will this week meet with Channel Nine, Fox Sports and Sky Sports (New Zealand) for talks. Both Channel Nine, the publisher of this masthead, and Fox Sports failed to make their quarterly broadcast payment on April 1. The NRL has heard the rumblings – that it’s not great viewing without a crowd. Equally, the NRL will argue it has held up its end of the bargain and provided the content it promised in the contract. In the only round played behind closed doors, the overall numbers were down on round one – which was played with crowds. Channel Nine’s numbers were down but Fox experienced an increase from the previous week.