The Canberra Region Rugby League (CRRL) met with its member clubs from the junior and senior competitions yesterday about the on-going lockdown and COVID-19 health situation and the affects these have on the competitions.
The CRRL continues to monitor the health advice closely from both the ACT and NSW and urges all rugby league participants to follow the relevant health orders and advice.
The CRRL has as its stated aim, based on the current potential for the lifting of lockdowns in the ACT from September 2, that it will try and complete a finals series with Grand Final, even if that series is truncated, before the end of September.
Therefore, the CRRL committee has decided that the regular season matches are now completed and the competition will move into a finals series (if possible). This is an extremely difficult decision for the committee to take as its overall aim is to always try and play as much rugby league as possible for our participants.
Before any finals series recommences, it is highly likely that there will be a one-week training period due to the time in lockdown for the players.
The CRRL has commenced discussions with ACT Sportsgrounds and other sports seeking the possibility of extending the available weekends by one week to attempt to get the finals played.
This is a very fluid situation and the CRRL understands the uncertainty that has been created around attempting to complete the competition. However, the CRRL will adjust according to the relevant health advice at the appropriate time.
The CRRL also has to manage the fact that it runs cross-border competitions and that any decisions around time frames from one government may well impact on the whole competition and require a cessation of what we are trying to achieve.
The CRRL and its member clubs have agreed to meet again next week to provide both an update and assess the most current health advice.
Once again, please stay safe, get vaccinated and follow all health advice.
Mark Vergano
General Manager, CRRL
