Loading "Today what we landed on was a starting date," ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce said. "We haven't finalised what that [competition] looks like yet. Why we want to firm up a date is to give certainty to players and their schedules, clubs and thousands or people who are out of work through clubs and millions of fans. It's a mark for everyone to work towards that's associated with the game." The clubs were not told about the NRL's plans for a 22-round season when they had their phone hook-up with the governing body on Thursday afternoon. It's understood the latest possible date that the NRL is willing to play the grand final without disruption to the 2021 season is November 15. The innovation committee meeting on Thursday, which lasted almost four hours and included an appearance from South Sydney coach Wayne Bennett, also decided that State of Origin series would be played in the middle of the season.

Souths coach Wayne Bennett made a special guest appearance at the NRL's innovation committee meeting on Thursday. Credit:Getty As it stands, the NRL is waiting for formal government approval before deciding whether all teams will be based in Sydney at the start of the competition, with discussions around border exemptions well under way. The Queensland government isn’t providing the same freedom as NSW, but there is confidence that by the time the season restarts the restrictions will be relaxed. That would allow all teams, with the likely exception of the Warriors, to base themselves at home and travel interstate on chartered flights on game day. If things don't change, interstate teams will need to be based in Sydney. "We're leaning towards a competition structure that looks more aligned with what we've currently got. We're not going to the conference scenario at the moment," he said.

"We've currently got support from the NSW government in terms of if we adhere to public health guidelines and make sure our players follow those guidelines we are able to train and play provided we have strict measures around testing the players and put other protocols in place to minimise the risk of infection within the playing group and community." It was also determined that all teams would have to return to pre-season training at the same time to not disadvantage clubs such as the Warriors, who at this point will have to undergo a 14-day self-isolation program when they arrive in Australia. May 4 has been earmarked as the first day of training. However, as it stands, the Warriors are in lockdown in New Zealand until the end of this month, and would require government exemption to travel across the Tasman. The Rabbitohs celebrating a try earlier in the year. Credit:Getty Complicating matters is a frosty relationship between the NRL and broadcast partner Channel Nine (the publishers of this masthead), highlighted by a scathing attack on the governing body from the free-to-air network on Thursday.

"At Nine we had hoped to work with the NRL on a solution to the issues facing rugby league in 2020, brought on so starkly by COVID-19," said a spokesperson for Nine. Loading "But this health crisis in our community has highlighted the mismanagement of the code over many years. Nine has invested hundreds of millions in this game over decades and we now find they have profoundly wasted those funds with very little to fall back on to support the clubs, the players and supporters. "In the past the NRL have had problems and we've bailed them out many times, including a $50m loan to support clubs when the last contract was signed. It would now appear that much of that has been squandered by a bloated head office completely ignoring the needs of the clubs, players and supporters." The attack, which could well be the final nail in the coffin of NRL chief executive Todd Greenberg, has cast a huge cloud over Nine's future in the sport.