Federal Sports Minister Richard Colbeck is urging all sporting codes to be cautious about plans to resume play amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Key points: The NRL suspended its season indefinitely on March 24, in response to the coronavirus pandemic

The NRL suspended its season indefinitely on March 24, in response to the coronavirus pandemic The league wants to get games restarted on May 28, but the Qld Premier says her state's three teams will not be given quarantine exemptions

The league wants to get games restarted on May 28, but the Qld Premier says her state's three teams will not be given quarantine exemptions There are suggestions the Broncos, Cowboys and Titans might have to base themselves in NSW for the season

In particular, the Minister was today wary of the NRL's plan to resume the rugby league season on May 28.

"I think it is a bit ambitious, to be frank," Colbeck told ABC's Radio National.

"If you consider the advice that we are still getting from people like [Chief Medical Officer] Brendan Murphy … they're the people who I think should be providing advice on these things.

"I think we need to be really cautious about the circumstances we are in.

"Yes, we are doing extremely well at the moment. But once the health authorities that are giving us advice give us the signal that we can start to relax some of those things then we start considering that, but not before."

The comments echoed those of Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who said she did not support the NRL's preferred starting date of May 28.

The league announced its plan last Thursday after a meeting of the NRL's innovations committee, with ARLC chairman Peter V'Landys saying the coronavirus pandemic was changing dramatically and the league "needed to get moving".

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However Ms Palaszczuk said that under current restrictions, players from the three Queensland clubs would not be permitted to travel back and forth to Sydney to play games, declaring they would be subject to 14 days' quarantine any time they returned to the Sunshine State.

This would mean the only way Brisbane, North Queensland or the Gold Coast could participate in the competition as currently envisaged would be if they remained in camp south of the border.

The New Zealand Warriors would be in a similar position, needing to travel to Australia and enter a 14-day quarantine period before getting training underway.

The NRL has been citing a letter from NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller advising the league is permitted to restart the season.

The letter, dated April 8, was in response to a query from V'Landys about whether there was anything precluding the NRL season restarting in the absence of crowds at stadiums, and involving only NSW-based teams.

Commissioner Fuller said that as of April 8, the NSW Health Minister's directions on COVID-19 did not "preclude the NRL from commencing a competition in the terms outlined above".

He said there were a number of exemptions from restrictions on people leaving their residence in NSW without reasonable excuse.

Commissioner Fuller said the competition would need to comply with people limits and use sufficiently sized venues.

He also said the grounds for matches would need to be large enough to allow for 4 square metres of space per person, noting "this does not mean that the persons on the premises cannot be closer than 4 square metres to each other. It only requires that the space be available".

Commissioner Fuller also said the league would need to comply with existing state and federal workplace, health and safety requirements "and ensure that a safe workplace is maintained for all participants".

QLD teams urged to make sacrifices for game's good

Rugby league great Gorden Tallis wants his fellow Queenslanders to move to NSW to allow games to resume. ( AAP: Brendon Thorne )

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Amid the concern over the NRL's timeline for return to play, former Maroons great Gorden Tallis urged the Queensland-based teams to head south of the border in order to keep the chances of getting the season going alive.

Tallis, who famously sat out the 1996 season in support of Super League and his commitment to the Broncos, said the current-day players must also be prepared to make sacrifices for the greater good of the game.

"Mate, I'm prepared to drive down to come and sit on the couch [to be on the show]," Tallis said on Foxtel's Fox League Live.

"The players, they've got to do whatever they've got to do to get paid, to make sure the competition goes ahead. Simple as that."

Gold Coast Titans chief executive Steve Mitchell on Monday left open the possibility of the three clubs basing themselves in NSW to get play underway and avoid Queensland quarantine issues.

Asked about the prospect of the Cowboys, Broncos and Titans leaving families behind to live and play in NSW, Mitchell told the ABC: "I don't know that it's fair … but it [the situation] is what it is.

"I think we want to get the competition — for the greater good of the code — up and going again, but not at the detriment of health and the community's greater general wellbeing," Mitchell said.

"But we have to make sacrifices in order to get the competition going.

"If that means we have to go through some adversity and some different obstacles we need to work through, so be it."

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