Where does the fault lie for the catastrophe? Ultimately it must lie with the NRL which has been awash with hundreds of millions of dollars for many years, even while the taxpayer forked out for their showpieces of infrastructure in absurdly profligate new stadiums, and yet still only had a buffer to stay afloat for a few months at best. Illustration: John Shakespeare Credit: The way forward? I maintain my original position: it is not to go back to get more from the taxpayers per se. In terms of prioritising need, million-dollar footballers can get right at the back of the queue, behind the casual workers, the labourers, the flight attendants, the shop assistants and all the rest. The leaguies' best hope, as they seem to have realised, is to do what I said last week and say: "We will live with the Olympic Stadium being an oval, not a rectangle, if we can have some of the proceeds of the $800 million saved." Ditto rebuilding the Sydney Football Stadium. ("Say, fer Chrissakes, can we at least all live without the $100 million electric curtain to hide the stadium's frequent emptiness?") They approached the Berejiklian Government with that proposal mid-week – ovals, not rectangles, and give us some money – only to be reportedly roundly rejected. Maybe ovally rejected, I am not sure. But I would persist. It was already absurd to build those grand stadiums when there was no need, but it will look criminally absurd if there is not much of a rugby league on the other side of this to even begin to fill them.

NRL should have pressed stop on play According to Peter V'landys, it was all very neat. It was only "on the advice of our biosecurity and pandemic experts," that the NRL competition had – against public outcry and common sense – proceeded to start the season. And they got through two rounds before a phone call came on Monday afternoon from their key expert. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video "Twenty-four hours ago, when the government was talking about all these new measures, we consulted our pandemic and biosecurity expert and it was fine to continue to play," V'landys recounted. "That changed mid-afternoon today after we got a call to say we can no longer assure the safety of our players ... The advice from our pandemic expert is alarming." Sorry, what?

The seven-person family in New Jersey that lost four to coronavirus on the Saturday, with three fighting for their lives? That wasn't alarming enough already? So play on, and have these NRL players return to their own families? The 869 who died of the same virus in Italy on the Sunday? Play on, again? I respectfully submit that the call to quit should have been made a lot earlier than that, and by the NRL itself. The best of sport What can sport do to help the world get through this crisis? The answer is, mobilise our communities. In Australia the way is being led, once again, by soccer's Craig Foster who did such a brilliant job on the #SaveHakeem campaign. Right now a lot of non-government organisations and charities relying on volunteers are so severely understaffed as they try to keep, most particularly, the elderly and now isolated looked after, they need 50,000 good souls to sign up to do everything from packing meals in community centres to driving for Meals on Wheels etc.

"With sport off now," Foster says, "we are creating a volunteer army to fill the void in a sporting coalition for humanity." The idea is to #PlayForLives not points this season, and we need those who sign up to put aside the four to five hours they would have committed to training and competition to volunteer instead. Waverley Old Boys soccer club got it underway by packing food at Addison Rd Community Centre, Marrickville and they have a roster for 30 volunteers for coming weeks. Four other clubs in NSW and Victoria are involved and other sports organisations are joining, including the FFA and Rugby Australia. All other sports are being called on to step up and activate our millions strong community. Time for a commercial break? I can't even ... I don't kn ... I ... Look ... there are no words. Just go to Greg Norman's Twitter handle, and see this message: "No matter what anyone says we all can make it! Sending positive vibes to all today, we WILL get through this chaos. Hope this lightens your day. Be safe, smart, and above all stay healthy. #TBT." What did he put it with? A one minute montage of all his most glorious moments, from his beer ad! I AM NOT MAKING THIS UP! And it is not a parody account! It is him! Thousands dying a day from this freaking thing, and Greg lifts the spirits of the little people, by reminding them that there are still great things in this world. Specifically – him. And his chosen beer brand. I am going outside, and should be some time.

Warnie's forward defence Well, I never. When Shane Warne made headlines on Wednesday for something he had tweeted about the Prime Minister, I tried to go straight to the source, and look at his Twitter account. Hence my whimsical query: is it wrong to feel a little chuffed on finding out that Shane Warne has blocked me? Discuss. What They Said

Chef de Mission of the Australian Paralympic Team, Kate McLoughlin: "Our campaign mindset 'Ready Set Tokyo' has shifted slightly today, 'Ready Reset Tokyo'." Shane Warne not a fan of ScoMo's leadership: "Listening to the PM like everyone here in Australia and what I understood was, 'It's essential, unless it's not. Then it's essentially not essential. I can't be clearer'. Plus people can buy a new shirt at a shopping centre? WTF? PM just had a shocker. Surely should be in lockdown now." ABC radio during the climax of the Sea Eagles-Roosters match, as Manly captain Daly Cherry-Evans slotted the winning field-goal: "The crowd is on its foot." Referee to the Sea Eagles and Roosters players immediately after the match: "Don't shake hands, boys." Too risky for infection?

Don't shake hands... but by all means do this? Credit:AAP @HoustonDunleavy on this insistence that footballers not shake hands at the end of the match: "Weird. I was a loose head prop for 22 years and the *least* amount of contact I had with my opposition was the handshake at the end!" Anonymous source on what happened to the NRL's Future Fund of $50 million or so, which was paid out to "It was set up for a rainy day and now it's pissing down and the NRL hasn't got a single umbrella or a poncho or anything because of that decision. It was the worst type of corporate governance." IOC President Thomas Bach on Monday: "We are affected by this crisis like everyone else and we are concerned like everybody else. We are not living in a bubble or on another planet. We are in the middle of our societies." By Wednesday the Olympics were postponed for at least a year. AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan shutting things down on Sunday evening: "Like every organisation in the country, we have to do everything that needs to be done to help slow the spread of this virus. As a national code, we have responsibilities to consider the well-being of the nation." In the words of Andrew Webster as the NRL insisted on playing on, "Rugby league looks like it's putting rugby league first, the nation second, and even the most ardent supporter understands that is not right."

Peter V'landys on Monday morning: "To keep racing and rugby league going is just as important for the spirit of people as for the economy. You have got to have some things to make life a little more normal and so people can relax." By the afternoon they had called off the NRL. Serena Williams: "Any time anyone sneezes around me or coughs I get crazy. And I don't hang out with anyone. When I say anyone, I mean my daughter. She coughed, and I got angry. I gave her a side-eye. I gave her that 'angry Serena', and then I got sad." Bergamo Mayor Giorgio Gori, on the soccer match between Atalanta (a team from the region) and Valencia which likely explains why the Italian city is Europe's hotspot for coronavirus: "It's clear that evening was a situation in which the virus was widely spread ... It's very probable that 40,000 Bergamaschi [Bergamo inhabitants] in the stands of San Siro, all together, exchanged the virus between them. As is possible that so many Bergamaschi that night got together in houses, bars to watch the match and did the same." Australian Olympic Cyclist Annette Edmondson on the Olympics being postponed: "At the end of the day we're just a sport. What we do is important to us. But when you hear the figures of people affected, the people dying, that puts it in perspective. A postponed Olympics is not the end of the world for us. But this situation will be pretty serious for many, many others." AOC's Matt Carroll about the Games' postponement: "That's what I think the world athletic community is feeling today, relieved. Saddened, of course, but relieved because I think it was the right decision to make."

Phil Gould on Twitter: "If I remember rightly, in January we were dealing with devastating bushfires & drought. World about to end due to climate change. Don't hear anyone on climate change now. I certainly didn't hear anyone banging on about #coronavirus 2 months ago. All experts in hindsight." Bloody hell! Penrith fan Curtis Van Coevorden, on the NRL abandonment of the season: "Shattered, just when the Panthers had the comp at their mercy." Team of the Week Melbourne City. Won its fourth W-League championship in five seasons. Melbourne City played and won the grand final to an empty stadium due to coronavrius lockdown measures. Credit:Getty