RETURN PLANS GATHER PACE
AT the same time as readers set about enjoying their League Express over a bowl of cereal or possibly a bacon butty, the Rugby Football League will I imagine be wading through emails from amateur clubs expressing interest in resuming playing from the second weekend in May.
The RFL’s Kelly Barrett invited responses, from Open Age teams only, in her regular club update on Friday – youth and junior leagues are, I gather, dealing with their teams themselves – with a further missive due today (Monday) to sides in the National Conference League. And I expect the response to be huge.
There are considerations to be taken into account, of course, given potential continuing implications of the Covid- 19 pandemic, but it has to be stressed that grass roots outfits are merely being invited to show interest – nothing more than that at this stage – and, in the final analysis, you’d expect clubs to respond positively in the absence of exceptional circumstances, although one or two certainly flagged up a number of concerns to me over the weekend. More positive news on this front in next week’s issue, I hope.