Leeds Rhinos legend Barrie McDermott says rugby league will follow football's lead

There has been no rugby league played at any level in this country since Sunday, March 15 and training was halted the following week.

Professional football is also on hold. The non-league season has been abandoned, but the FA and Football League remain keen for the 2019-20 campaign to be played to a finish.

Speculation is mounting that the Premiership could resume in early June, with matches initially played behind closed doors.

The Rugby Football League and Super League have yet to make an announcement on how and when the sport will resume, but insist all options are being considered.

As The Yorkshire Evening Post revealed at the start of this month, one contingency plan is to push the Coral Challenge Cup final back from July to October 10 at Old Trafford, the scheduled date and venue for the Super League title decider.

The Grand Final would then be played in mid-November at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, in London, which is already booked to stage the third and final match of the Ashes Test series.

However, Rhinos chief executive Gary Hetherington has said he believes there is a commitment among clubs to fulfil a full 29-round season - plus the Challenge Cup - which could mean playing into December.

Super League last week confirmed the Dacia Magic Weekend will not be staged as scheduled on May 23 and 24, but is expected to be rearranged for later in the year.

With social distancing measures likely to remain in place, even if some lockdown restrictions are lifted, there is a growing acceptance that playing games without a crowd may be the way forward for Super League.

McDermott admitted he can see positives and negatives to that solution, but believes what football does next is likely to dictate rugby league’s approach.

“We have got to be realistic and understand it is about the football, really,” said the former Great Britain prop-forward who spent a decade as a player at Leeds and also had a spell as head of youth.

“As soon as football cuts through the red tape and the Premiership and everything beneath that gets back going, we can plan what we are going to do.

“Even though we are a summer sport and we are seven or eight games into the seaSon, we haven’t got the power and standing in the sporting world that football has.

“It is such a big, important part of most people’s lives, that will be the voice I think government listens to.”

Playing behind closed doors would enable clubs to meet the terms of Super League’s deal with Sky Sports, but also mean season ticket holders being locked out of games they have already paid for - and would cost teams dearly in lost matchday income.

“I am missing my rugby league like mad, it is such an integral part of people’s lives.” McDermott said.

“There’s an argument for and against. The argument against is people being in such close proximity, not only the players, but the fans and people around the game, so closed doors is an option.

“But the for is, it is a morale-booster.

“It brings a lot of joy to a lot of people and gives a rhythm to a lot of people’s week.

“Once it gets to Thursday or Friday or whenever your team is playing, you look forward to that.

“I hope the people up top look at the for and against and make a decision that’s right for everybody, not just err on the side of caution because they don’t want people being so close together.”

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