NSWRL CEO David Trodden said planning is pivotal is clubs want to return in July

That's the viewpoint of NSW Rugby League CEO David Trodden, who made it clear on Thursday that he's well aware of the hurdles senior clubs are going to face if they want to get their sides back on the park by July 18.

The recent announcement by the state's governing body gave the green light for all grassroots rugby league competitions to return by mid-July, but the majority of the responses from clubs and players around the region have been more-or-less the same: what about the crowds?

Many club sponsors have been forced to cut ties with their teams already, leaving several clubs in all sorts of financial hurt.

If the current non-essential gathering restrictions on July 18 still don't allow for spectators at games, is there any hope the competition can kick-off?

While Trodden understands a total crowd ban would be detrimental to the viability of clubs in many areas, he's not prepared to rule out the possibility of spectators at games if the public continues to combat the virus like it has over the last month.

"Everybody should acknowledge the success we've had in slowing down the spread of the virus," Trodden said.

"If these restrictions are in place for another two months and we continue with the same progress we've been making, we can be fairly confident there'll be a loosening of the current restrictions.

"If that means we can play with a limited crowd in place, that would be good as well."

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Trodden was quick to point out a return for junior rugby league competitions on July 18 is much more viable than it is for the adults.

"Getting footy to return is a lot more problematic at a senior level than at a junior level," he said.

"The financial models are obviously very different and the cost structures associated with juniors are very modest.

"I'm not blind to the challenges that some people have in front of them at a senior level from players expecting to be paid to no gate takings at games."

For senior footy clubs, it's about taking the good with the bad and moving on as best you can under a challenging set of circumstances, Trodden says.

"It's the unfortunate reality... it's a challenge for everyone," he said.

"It's going to be exactly the same in every section of society. It's unrealistic to expect any business - including senior footy clubs - to come out of this pandemic with the same cost structures.

"Every business will need to make adjustments and clubs will need to figure out how they're going to be cutting the cloth a little differently for the rest of the season."

According to Trodden, everyone in the rugby league community needs to be putting their heads together to make sure there's a plan in place for that July 18 return date so that when rugby league is allowed to make its comeback, things operate as smoothly as possible.

"We can't sit back and wait until the July 1 to make plans ... by then it'll be too late," he said.

"We need to have something to work towards and I think there's reason for everyone to be optimistic.

"It's time to start to think about the sorts of precautions that we'll need to take when the competitions start."

Some of the potential safety measures Trodden put forward were to do with junior rugby league as he tossed up some hypothetical rules that could be put in place before the kids make a comeback.

"We'd have to think about how many people we can have at particular games and if there should be a limit on how many parents/guardians can be at a game for one kid," he said.

"There's also a consideration about potentially splitting up junior games by 30 minutes to make sure there aren't unnecessary crowds of people.

"Those are the things that won't happen overnight. We need to start planning them now."

The NRL was easily the most unwilling competition to shut up shop when the coronavirus began to impact Australia and now that the doors are opening for grass-roots sports to return, it seems as though rugby league is one of the more proactive sports.

While Trodden admits that rugby league gets a lot more attention than a lot of other sports, he doesn't think the code has been pushing the boundaries at all and says if there's an option for footy to return sensibly, he's going to push for it every day of the week.

"We're about playing footy... if we can do that safely then that's what we're going to do," he said.

"We're responsible for 100,000 participants across the state and our goal is to get as many of those people back on the field as possible.

"Last Friday, Netball announced an almost-identical plan to us and I believe hockey's actively considering it too. I don't think what we're doing is out of step with other sports. We might just attract more attention."

The coronavirus has had an impact on Australia that will be long-lasting and never forgotten and while the return of sport won't bring back those who have succumbed to the illness, it's going to play a massive role in putting a smile on people's faces again.

"Sport is so central to the fabric of the whole community and it's going to play such an important role in the recovery of this pandemic," he said.

"No one should underestimate how important it is for sport to be on again.

"This doesn't mean you should put people at risk in order to play but if we can do it safely, that's what we're going to do."