The 2021 Super League season will operate with a reduced schedule while the Magic Weekend and traditional Easter derbies are set to be pushed back in response to the Covid crisis.
Teams are likely to play fewer games because of a delayed start and an admission the toll on players will be too great if they are expected to play multiple midweek fixtures. Originally planned to be a 29-game season, the season could now be shortened to 25, or even 23, rounds during the regular season.
Super League confirmed last week that the start date would be pushed back to 25 March, and with the World Cup scheduled to begin in late-October, the competition has less room to manoeuvre than in 2020. “Twenty-seven games is unrealistic in terms of the load on the players, and 23 feels a little light in terms of a return for fans so that naturally leaves us with 25,” the competition’s chief commercial officer, Rhodri Jones, said.
Jones insisted the 25 March start date is set in stone following discussions with Sky Sports, but a crucial aspect of Super League’s plans is whether the Magic Weekend, set to take place at St James’ Park in May and ordinarily a hugely profitable event for the competition, can go ahead after asking Newcastle United whether they would consider delaying into the summer to maximise the chance of supporters being allowed to attend.
“We’re trying to put together the best deal we can on Magic, all the while considering public health concerns,” Jones said. “We’re in dialogue with Newcastle, and have asked them to push it back.” Also pushed back are traditional Easter derbies, including Wigan versus St Helens and Hull versus Hull KR. It will be the first time since 1989 a Wigan-Saints derby has not taken place at Easter.
Instead, the opening fortnight of the season will take place behind closed doors, before Super League hope to welcome fans back in April pending any government announcements on the end of the national lockdown. Jones admitted midweek fixtures will have to remain in some form, though the competition organisers are mindful of the impact playing so often may have on players in a World Cup year.
“A 27-round season in this space of time is tough, really tough, on the players,” he said. “That’s why our working group are concentrating on a 25-round season. You then lose two weeks where you’re not playing midweek fixtures. The lesson we learned in 2020 was if you play too many games too quickly, you run the risk of losing future fixtures. We’ve tried to space them out.”
