GROUP 4 Rugby League chairman Ray McCoy will recommend his Board abandons hopes of conducting any 2020 competition when that Board meets in Tamworth on Tuesday night.
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He had been hoping to conduct some semblance of a 2020 competition with a July starting date but has found it might be "too hard" to organise given the Covid 19 pandemic.
In recent weeks he has "researched the Government's Back To Sport protocols" for a possible return to play.
"To say they would be impossible to implement and monitor with our resources, and that of our members, at this stage would be impossible," Ray McCoy said.
"With the social restrictions in place, the finance and sponsorship hardships our clubs are facing and our community safety concerns, I think that it's time to seriously consider aborting our 2020 season and moving forward to a strong and competitive 2021.
"Whilst the NSWRL might be keen to see play resume in both junior and senior Group 4 Rugby League, as the governing body, time is not our hardest obstacle to overcome. It is the manpower and resources to safely administer the competition.
"My motion at our G4 Board meeting on Tuesday night will be to recommend to our members that we abort season 2020 and start planning for 2021."
A poll of all the Group 4 clubs earlier this year found most were concerned at the financial impost of playing a 2020 season without crowds.
The fact many of the clubs relied on gates to home games to pay their playing costs concerned them greatly. Also the fact most clubs have a club or pub as a major sponsor who could not open at that stage concerned them as well.
The relaxation of restrictions to pubs and clubs is a positive for the G4 clubs but the lack of crowds and the gatetakings make it almost certain the clubs would operate at a loss.
The health and safety aspect still remains a worry and the protocols put in place by the NSWRL, which includes clubs appointing a Covid 19 officer, tests club resources.
Ray McCoy said "once a decision, or recommendation, on the future of the 2020 season has been reached by the G4 Board, all clubs will be consulted before a final determination is announced".
"Whilst I'm sure that a lot of players will be disappointed should we not hit the paddock this year, let me reassure them that their welfare and that of our community members remains our main concern," McCoy said.
"Whatever the outcome of Tuesday's G4 Board meeting, rugby league will eventually hit the field stronger than ever."
