Gareth Ellis – Why I will be watching the NRL resumption with keen interest

People in general are crying out for some live sport after two months of repeats, throwbacks to this tournament and the best games of that.

There’s only so many blasts from the past you can be interested in before you want to see some up to date live sport.

With the NRL being back on Thursday week, there will still be no live sport in this country by then so – with Sky covering all the games live for the first two rounds – it will be a chance for rugby league fans to get their rugby league fix at last. That passion people have for watching live sport might just draw in a few others as well – sport fans who don’t normally watch rugby league but who are sat at home with not much to do.

It could give the sport a boost.

Even though the coronavirus has affected Australia a lot less than over here, they’ve still had some fairly decent restrictions on what they can and can’t do.

It will be intriguing then to see how it all pans out in this new state behind closed doors.

They had one round of games before shutdown but this will likely be different again with the restrictions now in place.

However, these are the times we’re living in. In German football, there were Bundesliga games this weekend and I saw some of the highlights. It was fascinating to see just how it all works.

People have spoken about the confusion of what is right and wrong during this pandemic and what they can and can’t do.

For me, watching that Bundesliga game really epitomised that very argument.

You had the subs two metres apart with masks on but then players all over each other at corners, scuffling around, touching for a few seconds or so, to then scoring a goal and no one being able to go near the goalscorer!

It was strange to see when you’re so used to seeing the normal behaviour of sportspeople in action. It will be interesting to see how rugby league goes as obviously the majority of our game is spent wrestling with someone and sweating all over each other.

There’s a lot on social media about English fans deciding which NRL club they are going to follow for the next few weeks.

Especially now, with the amount of English guys playing over there, people will be watching with some interest.

There’s something to relate to and it might be because of a player who’s played for your club or a player you liked. There’s a vested interest. I was a bit surprised Hull FC even asked the question the other day on their Twitter feed about who Hull FC supporters should be following. I thought it was a bit of an insult considering I played for Wests Tigers!

And we’ve had a number of Wests Tigers players over the years – Jordan Rankin, Mahe Fonua and Willie Manu not to mention going back a few years with Wests Tigers being a joint venture of Western Suburbs Magpies and Balmain Tigers.

Hull had two legends down there; Lee Crooks who played for both and Dave Topliss who played for Balmain so for me it wasn’t even a question to be asked.

It’s obvious all Hull FC fans should be supporting Wests Tigers!

Editor’s note: first and foremost - and rarely have I written down these words with more sincerity - I hope this finds you well.

Almost certainly you are here because you value the quality and the integrity of the journalism produced by The Yorkshire Post’s journalists - almost all of which live alongside you in Yorkshire, spending the wages they earn with Yorkshire businesses - who last year took this title to the industry watchdog’s Most Trusted Newspaper in Britain accolade.

And that is why I must make an urgent request of you: as advertising revenue declines, your support becomes evermore crucial to the maintenance of the journalistic standards expected of The Yorkshire Post. If you can, safely, please buy a paper or take up a subscription. We want to continue to make you proud of Yorkshire’s National Newspaper but we are going to need your help.

Postal subscription copies can be ordered by calling 0330 4030066 or by emailing [email protected]. Vouchers, to be exchanged at retail sales outlets - our newsagents need you, too - can be subscribed to by contacting subscriptions on 0330 1235950 or by visiting www.localsubsplus.co.uk where you should select The Yorkshire Post from the list of titles available.

If you want to help right now, download our tablet app from the App / Play Stores. Every contribution you make helps to provide this county with the best regional journalism in the country.

Sincerely. Thank you.

James Mitchinson

Editor