COWBOYS GRAPPLE WITH VIRUS CRISIS

THE true toll of the NRL’S decision to postpone the 2020 season remains unknown for the North Queensland Cowboys.

The club began talks last night following the NRL’S announcement and are expected to address the decision publicly today.

There is no telling how deep the financial ramifications could go with no return to competition in sight amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The club only opened the state-of-the-art $293.5 million Queensland Country Bank Stadium a fortnight ago, which was expected to be the jewel in the crown of North Queensland sport. It has also begun works on the club’s Community, Training and High-performance Centre, which was expected to be opened ahead of next season.

Cowboys coach Paul Green opened up on the NRL’S decision last night on Foxtel’s NRL

and declared the game could bounce back.

Green said the Cowboys had become adept at rolling with the punches, and his players would be ready to go if the season resumed in 2020.

“I think once we get a bit of a time frame around how long we will be out for that will make things a lot easier for us and then we can make plans around a training point of view,” Green said.

“I have got full confidence in our staff here. Once we know that we can make some plans around that.” But whether the NRL can truly bounce back from the closure of the competition remains to be seen with the game expected to haemorrhage money.

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys described it as a financial crisis for the game.

“It is catastrophic. I don’t think we have come across a financial crisis like this. It is the biggest financial challenge the game will face in its history – but cooperative and united, we will deal with it,” he said yesterday.

While the competition had stubbornly refused to wilt while major competitions around the world gave in, it is understood changing advice from a pandemic expert was the final straw for the game’s governing body.

The NRL has already sent the majority of its staff on annual leave, and has closed its Sydney headquarters until May as clubs are left to make their own decisions around staff costs. What the decision means for Cowboys staff is unclear.

While he remained hopeful the NRL could find a way through the crisis, NRL CEO Todd Greenberg admitted there was going to be serious consideration around restructuring the game’s cost base – which could include player salary reductions. “There is a much broader issue facing our community, not just our sport,” Greenberg said. “We have taken a leadership role for our sport in making this decision.”