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The NRL has been shut down indefinitely as the growing coronavirus pandemic continues to worsen across the world.

A number of clubs have cut staff and players are facing huge pay cuts. On Monday the Australian Rugby League Commission will meet to discuss club funding and a player pay deal which will then have to be put to the 16 NRL clubs the same day.

Round 20

Follow all the developments here.

V’LANDYS’ MESSSAGE OF HOPE FOR NRL SEASON

ARLC chairman Peter V’landys says he is optomistic the NRL season will resume in 2020, possibly as early as July.

“It’s a lot better than how it looked (when the season was suspended),” V’landys told the Sydney Morning Herald. “If it keeps trending like this, there is no reason we can’t recommence.”

V’landys pointed to two key reasons why NRL could be back in three months time

“You have to remember that the chief medical officers – up until we made the decision [to suspend the season] – allowed us to continue,” he said.

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“It was only that we acted on the advice of our pandemic expert. Up until that point, the government had no problem with us continuing.

“As long as we have the support of the chief medical officers, we will be able to recommence. We’re looking at other options which minimise the risk even further.”

He also pointed to Australia’s flattening of the coronavirus curve in recent days as another reason to believe a rugby league return was possible.

WHAT TO EXPECT FROM MONDAY’S D-DAY MEETING

The financial stability of all 16 NRL clubs during the coronavirus will be a chief concern for the players’ union in one of the biggest meetings in the game’s history on Monday.

Both the NRL and Rugby League Players’ Association are confident a deal will be reached early this week on pay talks, with a Monday morning meeting set for all club bosses, player representatives and NRL executives.

In the teleconference, ARLC chairman Peter V’landys will tell clubs and the players he is still hopeful the season can resume by July 1, mitigating as much damage to the game as possible.

But officials are still planning for the worst-case scenario as they plan player payments and club grants in case the competition doesn’t restart before the September 1 deadline.

Player representatives from all 16 clubs spoke with V’landys and NRL chief Todd Greenberg on Sunday, along with South Sydney CEO Blake Solly and Brisbane counterpart Paul White.

It’s expected the players’ pay cut for the remainder of the year will sit around 75 per cent, after they have already been paid the first five months of their annual salary in full.

Their pay will continue to come out of club grants, making the viability of each side paramount.

If any club falls it will hurt the financials of the game through broadcast deals as well as the direct impact of player losses.

“(Sunday’s meeting) was both productive and passionate, and that’s what we expect from players because they love their clubs and they love the game,” RLPA boss Clint Newton said.

“They want to ensure we are protecting the future of the game and the 16 clubs. “This type of discussion is something that the game has now committed to do more regularly moving forward.

“That is, genuinely engaging with the RLPA and its members. Being open and transparent as a priority, but also having those tough conversations with each other.

“Clubs also need to be a part of that moving forward, which we welcome.”

Meanwhile V’landys insists clubs will be happy with their funding package and hopes it will be more than they would have expected.

A total of $1.2 million was promised to clubs last week, but that’s now likely to be more in a bid to keep them afloat through the toughest time in their histories.

“We’re going to do everything in our power to ensure that (every club is viable),” V’landys told AAP.

“I don’t know the underlying financial aspect of every club, but I am hoping payments will be more than they are expecting and with the cuts they have made. “But it depends on other things, sponsorships that may not be made, funding grants from licensed clubs that may not be there any more.

“However we will do our bit to make sure each club is still there and viable.”

The NRL has been searching for its own ways to slash costs at head office during the downturn, with only skeleton staff still working.

Greenberg has already taken a 25 per cent pay cut in his role as CEO, and could take leave without pay himself if the competition does not resume this year. The league will also cast an eye to what happens in overseas sport in terms of when they can restart, with most other major leagues called off well before the NRL.

NRL NEGLECT FORCES PEOPLE TO ASK, WHERE’S THE MONEY GOING?

The NRL are facing serious questions over their savings for certain rainy day funds.

It has emerged that they have failed to cough up the cash for the last two years worth of retirement funds. This year’s amount has yet to be paid, and there are questions over what has happened to an amount set aside to help the NRL clubs should they fall on hard times.

All the while, the NRL is spending an eye-watering amount daily for its operational costs.

“It’s another example of financial mismanagement at the NRL and how they mislead us as a public,” said Daily Telegraph journalist Paul Kent on Fox League Live.

In his Saturday column Kent wrote that: “Limousines and hire cars, bloated staff numbers on bloated wages, unnecessary costs like the millions to stage February’s Nines in Perth, where there are no plans for expansion, which so no real gain, gifts of diamond rings” were what the NRL were frivolously wasting cash on.

He continued on Fox League Live: “They failed to pay $5m in 2018, same again in 2019, and then this year. Add that up and it’s $15m.

“There’s also the stressed clubs fund where they’ve failed to pay which is $6m, all together that’s $21m which they were obligated to pay.

“The minute you try to make them accountable, you’re instantly betrayed as a nark or a critic. “This has been going on for years the NRL, for whatever reason, are not up front to their constituents which is the fans, who deserve to know what the game is.

“Head office is spending $182m, that’s nearly half a million per day. Less people are playing the game, ratings are stagnant, crowds are stagnant what are they spending their money on?”

CLUBS ANGRY OVER MISSING $30M

NRL club chiefs are reportedly “fuming” at almost $30 million which they claim the NRL owes them collectively.

The Sydney Morning Herald says ARLC chairman Peter V’landys promised the clubs $1.8 million each in funding before trying to renege on that agreement.

The NRL’s chief financial officer reportedly informed the clubs the money would be kept by the NRL.

“The plan to keep money in the NRL coffers, as opposed to providing it to the clubs, was quickly kicked to the curb by a united chief executive group,” one club chief told the Herald.

“We’re entitled to that grant money. And we still have to operate without any form of income. This surprised us after Peter V’landys said just two days earlier clubs would receive three months worth of grants.”

The bulk of that cash was to be used for player payments but players are now facing huge pay cuts and it remains unclear exactly how much of their contracts they will actually receive.

NRL chief Todd Greenberg, meanwhile, will reportedly take unpaid leave as the financial crisis hits home for the game’s top brass.

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