Group Four Rugby League competition expected to be abandoned this year

By Geoff Newling and Blake Jarrett

The 2020 Group Four Rugby League season could potentially be the latest victim of the COVID-19 pandemic following a meeting of the group’s board in Tamworth tonight.

At that meeting Group Four Rugby League chairman Ray McCoy will recommend his board abandons hopes of conducting any 2020 competition.

McCoy said that the pandemic was taking its toll on clubs and the focus should now be on 2021.

“With the social restrictions in place, the finance and sponsorship hardships our clubs are facing and our community safety concerns, I think that it’s time to seriously consider aborting our 2020 season and moving forward to a strong and competitive 2021,” he said.

“Whilst the NSWRL might be keen to see play resume in both junior and senior Group Four Rugby League, as the governing body, time is not our hardest obstacle to overcome. It is the manpower and resources to safely administer the competition.

“My motion at our Group Four board meeting [tonight] will be to recommend to our members that we abort season 2020 and start planning for 2021.”

A poll of all the Group Four clubs earlier this year found most were concerned at the financial impost of playing a 2020 season without crowds.

The fact many of the clubs relied on gates to home games to pay their playing costs concerned them greatly.

Also, the fact most clubs have a club or pub as a major sponsor who could not open at that stage concerned them as well.

The relaxation of restrictions to pubs and clubs is a positive for the Group Four clubs but the lack of crowds and the gate-takings make it almost certain the clubs would operate at a loss.

The health and safety aspect still remains a worry and the protocols put in place by the NSWRL, which includes clubs appointing a COVID-19 officer, would stretch club resources.

The Narrabri Rugby League Football Club and Boggabri and District Rugby League Football Club presidents Tom Mason and Greg Haire both backed McCoy’s call to abandon aborting a 2020 season.

“I’d have to agree with Ray,” Boggabri Kangaroos president Haire said.

“I think we are running out of time. I’d love to play and I know Shane (Boggabri’s first grade coach Shane Rampling) would love to play.

“But we would have to have crowds, I’ve got to agree that we wouldn’t be able to start without crowds.

“You need crowds otherwise it would all just cost too much money.

“By the time you pay the refs and pay all our other stuff, then you’d hardly have a canteen because there would only be players and committee there.

“Then as they say if crowds were allowed it would be too hard to police the number of people we are allowed in and then the one-and-a-half metres rule too if they were factors.”

Mason, the Narrabri Blues president, said that hosting game days under certain restrictions would be too difficult for country footy clubs and their volunteer committee members.

“What Ray has said, I personally do agree with his thought process about this whole thing,” Mason said.

“If they said we were right to have large gatherings we’d be in for it, but if there’s restrictions put on us it would just be too hard.

“Even if they put a number on how many we can have, we have to police that and I don’t know how we can do that.

“We are volunteers here, we aren’t police people, we are not health experts, it’s way out of our expertise.”

Mason also said that playing in front of limited or no crowds would affect the club “big time” financially and socially.

Ray McCoy said that Group Four clubs would be consulted after tonight’s meeting.

“Once a decision, or recommendation, on the future of the 2020 season has been reached by the Group Four board, all clubs will be consulted before a final determination is announced”.

He added that he knew players would be disappointed, but declared that the game would return bigger and better in 2021.

“Whilst I’m sure that a lot of players will be disappointed should we not hit the paddock this year, let me reassure them that their welfare and that of our community members remains our main concern,” McCoy said.

“Whatever the outcome of Tuesday’s Group Four board meeting, rugby league will eventually hit the field stronger than ever.”