Changing times for players on sidelines

THE Cairns and District Rugby League has no reservations about players feeding their appetite for sport with other codes in the region while the competition is on hold.

Local league stars may line up for Far North rugby union and AFL clubs when their respective seasons get underway, after the CDRL cancelled its 2020 season on Monday.

CDRL secretary/operations manager Pat Bailey said the league was willing to allow players to join other sports during the season’s shutdown as it could help other codes get back on their feet.

“I feel for all the sports, I really do,” Bailey said. “I feel for union, I feel for AFL, I feel for soccer – it’s going to be a tough year for everyone and we need to all be in it together.

“If having our players play in their competitions for a season is going to help them out, I can’t knock it.”

Bailey said she was confident the players who explored other sporting avenues would return to the CDRL next year.

Northern Pride coach Ty Williams agreed.

“You’ll see guys that will go and play other sports but I think they’ll always come back,” he said.

Williams said he would allow Pride players to join other sports, as long as it didn’t affect their commitments with the Intrust Super Cup club.

“That’s where it’s important for us as coaches, and especially as a brand, to offer different avenues,” he said.

“Our sole focus for our boys is to continue with their training component.”

Not every coach will be happy to see players switch.

Pride Hastings Deering Colts coach Dave Scott said he didn’t want to risk losing players from the game long term.

“Depending what training commitments they have with us, we can hopefully do enough in rugby league to keep them focused on our sport. That’s my priority, not other sports.”