NEW South Wales Rugby League has green-lighted the return to the training field for its senior players, including those in Group Seven.
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Following Wednesday's announcement that all senior sport can resume from July 1, NSWRL chief executive David Trodden explained how rugby league's season kick-off is just around the corner.
"This is another great result for rugby league across the state of NSW and I thank the NSW government for allowing us to resume," Trodden said.
"Training, in groups of up to 10, can begin as soon as clubs have complied with the NSWRL's COVID-19 regulations that have been developed in line with the Australian government's return to sport framework."
Group Seven president Scott McLaurin welcomed Wednesday's announcement, explaining it was another step in the right direction to getting the season started on July 18.
"This is another positive step towards us returning to the field," McLaurin said.
"All our clubs have completed their COVID courses and sent them off to NSWRL.
"Once they have been given the tick of approval, they can start modified training - something we didn't expect to happen this soon."
While McLaurin admits everything is coming together well, there is still a number of obstacles they must jump through to get the season started next month.
"We still have plenty of processes to go through and sort out before the July 18 kick-off," he said.
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"It's obviously been a tough time for everyone, with so many unknowns but considering we are in a pandemic, I believe we are situated well and am confident, over the next five weeks, we will sort out those final issues.
"We still need to get our first aid officers up to the necessary requirements, as they haven't been able to do so during the lockdown.
"Then there's the issue of crowds at matches - we will be doing everything in our power to get fans at the games, as they are such an important part of local footy."
This announcement comes one week after the state government gave the go-ahead to all junior sport to resume from July 1, following the advice from health authorities.
"It's great the juniors have always been given the go-ahead, because they are the future of our game and we can't afford to lose them to other sports," McLaurin said.
"There would be long-term ramifications to rugby league if the junior competition didn't go ahead this season."
McLaurin also confirmed Sussex Inlet, Wreck Bay and the Albion Park Outlaws have withdrawn their nominations for the third grade competition, due to COVID-19.