The NRL Northern Territory (NRL NT) have today announced the return to community Rugby League on Friday 19 and Saturday 20 June 2020, in-line with required approvals and advice from the Northern Territory government and health authorities.
The NRL NT Quitline Premiership for Senior Men's and Women's competitions will start on Saturday 20 June 2020 and include a 10 round regular season, followed by a three week finals series. The NRL NT Quitline Premiership Grand Final will be played on Saturday 26 September at Territory Rugby League Stadium.
The NRL NT Chemist Warehouse junior competitions will commence on Friday 19 June, with rounds scheduled to play through the July School holidays. The NRL NT Chemist Warehouse junior competition Grand Finals will also be played on Friday 25 September and Saturday 26 September at Territory Rugby League Stadium.
NRL NT General Manager, Nigel Roy was delighted to be the first State or Territory in the country to have community rugby league competitions back up and running.
"It's not every day that the NRL NT gets to lead the way for the rest of Australia, but it's a responsibility we are absolutely looking forward too," Mr Roy said.
"Rugby League plays an important part of the social fabric that keeps the Northern Territory community together. The absence of training and playing during these uncertain times has only magnified the positive and vital role local rugby league clubs, officials and volunteers have within communities."
NRL NT will continue to work directly with the clubs, volunteers and government agencies to ensure that the delivery of community rugby league in the Northern Territory remains in line with government rules and regulations.
Season fixtures and match scheduling for the NRL NT Quitline Premiership and NRL NT Chemist Warehouse junior competitions will be released shortly.
Following the lifting of community sporting restrictions, Rugby League competitions are also set to kick off on the weekend of Friday 19 June and Saturday 20 June, with details outlines below:
Central Australia Rugby Football League (CARFL)
The CARFL competition will commence with the annual CARFL Nine's competition on Saturday 20 June. The CARFL committee is expecting a high number of teams playing again with local teams from Alice Springs and wider communities including Tennant Creek and Yuendumu.
The CARFL competition season is expected to commence the following week. Under 15's and Under 17's youth competitions will start on Wednesday 24 June with all other Juniors commencing on Saturday 27 June. Round 1 of the senior men's competition will kick off on Saturday 27 June with the CARFL Grand Final scheduled for Saturday 26 September at Anzac Oval, Alice Springs.
Katherine Rugby League (KRL)
KRL will commence on Friday 19 June at the Katherine Town Ovals with competitions for the Under 6 to Under 12's age groups.
Katherine's older-youth teams, Under 14's/16's/18's are scheduled to participate in the NRL NT Darwin based competitions. Katherine is also proud to announce that an Under 15's girls youth team will also be participating in the NRL NT competition.
The KRL season schedule will be finalised over the coming weeks as participants prepare for the year ahead.
Gove Rugby League (GRL)
The Gove Rugby League competition which traditionally commences later in the year, is expected to commence on Friday 14 August.
