NSWRL announces plan for community league return on July 18

The NSWRL has confirmed community rugby league across the state, along with the Ron Massey Cup, Sydney Shield and the Harvey Norman NSW women's premiership, are set to resume from July 18 subject to another review in June.

NSWRL CEO David Trodden and his board have met for discussions around the future of grassroots rugby league and the three senior competitions – classed too as community rugby league - since cancelling other major senior competitions for the 2020 season on March 27.

Trodden said on the advice of government restrictions in place by July, the state governing body would work to resume the competitions in a shortened format for the remainder of the season.

The NSW Health Order restricts prevents sports from being played until at least June 29.

"Accordingly, the earliest possible return date is 30 June 2020, unless the NSW Government decides to lift the Public Health order earlier," Trodden said in a statement issued by the NSWRL.

"Most winter sports favour working towards a return date of 18 July 2020, at the end of the next school holiday period, with a return to training on 1 July 2020, subject to the status of the public health in the interim.

"The NSWRL and everyone in our rugby league community need to be responsive to the continual changes to the Government advice around risks to public health for the broader community, and if it becomes apparent that a July start date is not feasible, we will adjust and reassess."

Trodden told NRL.com last week that NRL and other contracted players would unlikely be ineligible to use the third-tier Ron Massey Cup competition as a way to get some sort of match fitness under their belt after the Canterbury Cup was cancelled for the season.

"One of the things the NRL will be really, really self-conscious of is the biosecurity risks to their competition," he said last week.

"They'll want to make sure that anybody who has any association with an NRL squad is quarantined from anywhere else. The Canterbury Cup runs in conjunction with the NRL and that's why we made that call early."

The NSWRL indicated it has more than 100,000 boys, girls, men and women across the state involved in community rugby league eligible for a return.

All clubs and leagues are encouraged to continue to take registrations beyond the traditional June 30 registration cut-off date.

In March, major competitions Canterbury Cup NSW, Jersey Flegg Cup, Women's Country Championships and Men’s Under 23s Country Championships, along with junior representative competitions the SG Ball Cup, Tarsha Gale Cup, Harold Matthews Cup, Andrew Johns Cup and Laurie Daley Cup, were all confirmed to be cancelled for the season.

No awards or premiers will be awarded for either competition.