Rugby league’s long-time broadcast partner Channel Nine has launched a stunning takedown of the NRL, seething about being left out of the planning for the restart of the competition and accusing the governing body of years of mismanagement and wastefulness.

The ARL Commission is due to receive a recommendation from the organisation’s Project Apollo innovation committee on Thursday about when and in which form the season should resume, with chairman Peter V’landys hopeful of a May 21 return.

The proposal to have a rebooted competition up and running again without crowds in the midst of the coronavirus crisis, however, has not won the support of the game’s long-time free-to-air broadcaster Nine.

Nine chief executive Hugh Marks has told the NRL there is less value attached to the game being played behind closed doors and under a different structure and the media company wants to negotiate a new contract with the code.