The NRL has reached an agreement with its broadcast partners to restart the competition on May 28, following a meeting with Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V'landys.
File photo. Photo: Photosport
It comes little over 24 hours after free-to-air broadcaster Channel Nine labelled the NRL's plans premature.
"We're united on the commencement date, the target date being the 28th of May," V'landys told NRL.com on Friday evening.
"From there we just need a bit more information on the competition structure, so everything's going to plan.
"And the meeting was very amicable and held in very good spirits and all three parties are united in aiming to get the game back and give it as big an audience as possible."
The length of season is still to be confirmed, with a decision expected early next week.
A season length anywhere between 17 and 22 rounds have been discussed but yet to be confirmed.
Should an agreement be reached for a 17 or 18-round campaign (including the two rounds played before Covid-19 halted play), this year's grand final could be played in its traditional early-October time slot following a regular top-eight finals format.
Negotiations around exemptions for the Warriors to arrive in Australia before the proposed May 4 return-to-training date and train together while in quarantine, and for interstate teams to travel to NSW, remain ongoing at government level.
Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison indicated on Friday that the Federal government would establish a set of nationwide principles to align state policies in enabling sporting codes and recreational activities to resume.
"In terms of the big codes - AFL, NRL, things like that - they're both working through states and territories presently," he said.
"And what we'll be doing, and particularly what the medical expert panel will be doing, will be drawing their proposals together."
