NRL clubs desperate for World Cup to be postponed

NRL clubs have spoken of their desire for the World Cup to go ahead in 2022, rather than in 2021 according to The Guardian.

World Cup organisers are expected to press ahead for the competition to start in 2021 as normal, but clubs Down Under still maintain worries concerning the logistics of flying over 400 players, staff and officials back and forth to the UK.

With Australian border rules outlining that anyone returning must spend a fortnight in quarantine, it would mean some NRL clubs will not see their stars return until barely two weeks before the trial games ahead of the 2022 season.

World Cup officials have already agreed to pay for charter flights for those flying in to the UK in order to minimise the risk of contact with the public, but the South Sydney chief executive and former Super League CEO, Blake Solly, told the Guardian the preferred option is to postpone until 2022.

“There is a great amount of respect for Jon [Dutton, World Cup chief executive] and his team,” Solly said.

“But the NRL clubs have a range of concerns; from travel to and from the UK, the arrangements and protocols for players in the UK, quarantine upon their return and when the players return to training.

“The collective view when we discussed the tournament a few weeks ago was that it needed to be postponed until 2022.”