Full NRL crowds possible by August

The NRL will keep their eyes set on a return to unlimited crowds in August after stadiums were granted federal permission to open at quarter-capacity from July.

In the biggest step out of the coronavirus so far, Prime Minister Scott Morrison revealed national-cabinet plans for crowds of up to 10,000 people in stadiums.

The move will allow crowds of between 5,000 to 7,500 at most NRL venues, while the fate of venues with more than 40,000 seats — such as ANZ Stadium, the SCG and Suncorp — is still to be determined.

Each state and territory government will determine when they will implement the new rules, but the NRL are confident they will have gates open in NSW from July 1.

The master plan marries up exactly with ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys’ original push for capped crowds from the beginning of next month.

And he is now confident that if virus numbers continue to remain low, crowds will be able to return in full in as little as seven weeks from now.

‘‘I said capped crowds from July 1 and unrestricted from the start of August, so I think we’re going to get there,’’ V’landys told AAP.

‘‘Everything we do we base it on the facts and data, not on people saying things they can’t back up with facts.

‘‘(August) really depends on the data.

‘‘You can analyse the infection rate, and in NSW for the past 15 days there hasn’t been one in the community.’’

NRL heavyweights were last night meeting to plan out which grounds could be used from July 1, and whether all clubs could return to their traditional home.

The NRL and venues such as Bankwest Stadium have been working for months with the NSW Government on the planned reopening.

For results last night’s NRL match featuring the Warriors go to stuff. co.nz