The NRL will announce the first two rounds of the season resumption on Friday, having withheld the fixture from its broadcast partners, reportsย The Sydney Morning Herald.ย
With the league working around the clock to conjure up rounds three and four of the fixture for the set May 28 resuming of the season, the league will also have to wait until next week for a new broadcast deal, with the NRL in its final discussions on a new deal with Foxtel.
The highly anticipated Roosters-Rabbitohs matchup that was set to kick off the season that would see Latrell Mitchell come up against his previous club may have to wait a bit longer.
A potential Brisbane Broncos against one of the better supported NSW teams such as the Eels, Panthers or Bulldogs may be the way the league chooses to resume the season.
To celebrate the resuming of league action, the NRL had planned a five-night footy bonanza, beginning on Thursday night and finishing on Monday which was sure to get the excitement back, but the Nine network has put a squash onto those plans.
A Nine spokesperson said he was shocked to hear of the Monday night snubbing, saying the re-scheduling of the fixture was never brought up with the network by the NRL or Fox Sports.
ARL Commission chairman Peter V'landys said he has been working hard to get both the fixture and broadcast deals sorted by the end of the week, but has conceded to the fact it may take a little longer than that.
"We want to give the coaches and players something to work towards, which is why we will announce the next two rounds tomorrow," V'landys said on Thursday.
"We will announce the rest of the draw next week. We are still finalising a few things with our broadcast partners but we are moving ahead and we'll get a couple of rounds out to help the coaches prepare as best as they can."
The NRL are in its final stages of negotiations with Fox Sports and a deal should be sorted sooner, rather than later.
