The Canberra Region Rugby League (CRRL) have made the decision to cancel the remainder of the junior and senior rugby league seasons due to the ongoing COVID-19 situation across the ACT and regional NSW.
The decision comes on another difficult day for the Canberra community, with Chief Minister Andrew Barr announcing the ACT’s lockdown has been extended until 17 September.
CRRL General Manager Mark Vergano said the public’s safety was top priority in making the decision.
“Whilst the CRRL explored every avenue in an attempt to hold a finals series after the premature end to the regular season, there are still active cases in the community of the Delta variant and we all have a duty of care to our players, volunteers and staff to keep them safe,” said Vergano.
“The CRRL and the clubs understand this will be of a great disappointment to all the senior players, however there is a social responsibility and a duty of care to ensure that all our great rugby league players and supporters are safe and supportive of the community’s and governments’ attempts, on both sides of the border, to lessen potential virus exposure for everyone,” Vergano said.
The CRRL committee will make a decision on the competition premiership outcomes shortly.
The cancellation includes all the competitions associated with the Canberra Raiders Cup and George Tooke Shield, including the Katrina Fanning Shield.
The window to complete the season by the end of September was lessening and with the challenges of cross border movement the CRRL and clubs believed this was the most responsible decision.
They understand the cancellation of junior competitions will be of a great disappointment to the many children who were looking forward to playing a finals series, however the CRRL understands their social responsibility and a duty of care to ensure that all our great rugby league players and supporters are safe.
AFL Canberra released a statement after the lockdown extension was announced saying they were still hopeful to complete their junior and senior competitions if safe to do so.
They are working with the ACT Government to develop a return to sport roadmap following the lockdown and will make no further comment until a final decision has been made.
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