The NRL hopes to be playing games by the end of May. This prospective starting date is actually several weeks, if not months, ahead of what AFL club people believed probable for their resumption.

In AFL clubland, there was a widespread view up until last weekend that footy wouldn't resume in crowdless stadia – no matter where those games were played – until perhaps late July or August.

The AFL played just one round behind closed doors before the season was halted. Credit:AAP

The Victorian government advice, based on the medicos and experts who study the pandemic and project what will unfold, had been that the coronavirus peak would be around late May or early June.

But the NRL seems to have developed some form of immunity from the virus, to the point that they're preparing to open the games, though obviously not the turnstiles, on either May 21 or May 28, with the caveat that the competition will be relocated to Sydney, where most of the clubs are based.