Castleford Tigers chief Daryl Powell suggests double-headers to ease strain on game’s return

With the government beginning to lift lockdown restrictions, Powell is hopeful a return to training is now on the horizon.

Castleford’s 28-14 win over St Helens on March 15 was the final Super League game played before the competition was suspended due to coronavirus.

The government yesterday indicated professional sport could resume next month, behind closed doors.

Lacking income through the gate, clubs will be desperate to keep matchday expenses as low as possible and double- or triple-headers are being considered as a way of doing that.

“It would be cost and safety,” said Powell, whose side faced Toronto Wolfpack in the first part of a Super League double-header at Leeds’ Rhinos’ Headingley Stadium in February.

“You are only opening one venue, everybody – doctors and players – go to one place, it is minimising risk and reducing cost which is pretty important for the sport at the moment.”

Headingley now has two separate sets of home and away changing rooms, plus a single changing room and warm-up area which could be converted for team use, making it be an obvious venue for multiple matches.

Such an arrangement would mean some teams having to forgo home advantage, but Powell insisted: “We all just want to get back to playing and doing what’s right for the country and for rugby league.

“It’s really important to us all and we want to get it back up and running. As soon as we can do that, we start to move forward.”

After almost two months in limbo, there is still no firm indication as to when or how Super League will return.

“We’re just trying to get a clear picture and find out what it [Super League’s resumption] is going to look like,” stressed Powell.

“You can see football working through the processes at the moment, trying to find out where they go with it and when they start.

“I am presuming we will wait and see what happens with that and then we can start moving forward with a clear picture of how football have gone about it, what sort of testing procedures need to be in place and how teams sequence back into training together – and the safety of everything which is obviously a big part of it.”

Powell added: “Everybody in the game wants to help to get back playing.

“The sooner we can do that, the better.

“I think it helps the well-being of everybody; getting sport back up and running and giving people something to cheer about is absolutely crucial at the moment.”

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