Super League fixture plan not yet decided says Leeds Rhinos chief

Hetherington is “disappointed” the proposals - due to be considered by the Rugby Football League this week - were leaked to the media and says no decisions have yet been made.

Details of Super League’s possible restart plan - which Hetherington was involved in drawing up - were broken by the BBC last week. The document lists three options, all based on fixtures resuming in August and fans being allowed into stadiums from October 1.

“It is disappointing a Super League club has chosen to leak this information,” Hetherington said.

“The fixtures working group have been working diligently for the last six weeks, looking at all eventualities and contingency planning.

“That is all it is, it was certainly not ready for the public domain at this stage because there is so little certainty.

“A Super League club has chosen to not only leak this information, but also provide all the papers that went to the other Super League clubs beyond the working group.

“This is disappointing and it has forced a public debate. However, now it has been made public, I’d stress it is still in the very early stages.

“No decisions have been made, it is simply contingency planning.

“Three options have been identified, but there could be other options as well.”

The various scenarios lead to a Grand Final in November, December or January next year.

Hetherington is keenest on option three, which would maximise the number of games played in front of a crowd and include competitive matches on Boxing Day and New Year’s Day.

Players would then have around a six-week break before beginning the 2021 season in March. Hetherington stressed: “We had the off-season, played for six weeks and have now had another long ‘off-season’. If you look at the number of games players have played over an 18-minth period, it is the longest off-season ever.”

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