‘You can hear the banter, the plays... and foul language’
THE NRL returns from a two-month hiatus next week.
The 16-team Australian rugby league competition downed tools after two rounds in late March when the severity and the impact of the coronavirus began to hit home.
Driven by Peter V’landys, chairman of the Australian Rugby League Commission, the tournament is due to return in a 20-round format beginning with Brisbane Broncos v Parramatta Eels next Thursday.
There are strict biosecurity and social distancing measures for all participating teams while New Zealand-based outfit, the Warriors, quarantined in the small town of Tamworth when they arrived in Australia via Auckland before moving to their base on the Central Coast earlier this week.
Next Thursday’s opening game in Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium will be the first phase of this ambitious project.
‘We’ll have to wear face masks,’ Paul Devlin explains when describing the match day experience.
‘We’ll go straight onto a coach when we arrive, straight to the stadium, not allowed to go anywhere other than the changing room in the stadium. And then we’ll go from there straight to the pitch, play the game, and repeat the process on the way home. Come back straight after the game.
‘It’s fascinating though. I’m really proud of the NRL and the way the Broncos have dealt with it.’
‘I’ve spoke to so many clubs across the country. I spoke to Saracens yesterday and different clubs in the AFL, NFL, NBA… all these different teams across the world about their experiences and how they’re getting through it.’
Playing in front of empty stands will be slightly surreal, but Devlin is looking forward to seeing how it plays out.
‘The strangest thing is you can hear the players shouting at each other. So you can hear the banter on the field and you can hear the plays that are called. You never get to hear that sort of stuff. You can also hear the foul language so that will be a challenge for the TV crew.’
To date, there have been just over 7,000 cases of Covid-19 throughout Australia with approximately 100 deaths.