Super League season postponed until April because of coronavirus

Club bosses met today and agreed to suspend the season until April 3 at the earliest because of the deepening coronavirus crisis.

It means the Warriors' next two matches - against Catalans on Sunday and a trip to Wakefield the following Friday - will need to be rearranged later in the year.

All levels of the game will be shut down for the next three weeks, with the RFL and Super League reviewing their position again closer to the provisional start date.

If games resumed on April 3, it would be the weekend of the Challenge Cup sixth round. The draw, which included Super League's big-guns like Wigan, was being made tonight.

The measure falls in line with many other major sports, including many football leagues.

Club bosses ruled out the option of continuing the season with matches played behind closed doors.

But even a best-case scenario will leave them with a backlog of fixtures to cram into the campaign. French club Catalans Dragons already have three matches to make-up due to early-season cancellations.

Wigan Warriors owner and chairman Ian Lenagan said: "At this time of great uncertainty across the world, our sport’s number one priority has to be the safety and wellbeing of everyone within our communities. We were party to this decision and fully supportive the measures decided.

“Whilst the postponement of a large number of fixtures across the competition will present a logistical challenge like we’ve never seen before, we trust that everyone connected to both Wigan Warriors and Betfred Super League will understand the reasoning behind this stance.

“Suspending the competition will add an element of certainty to our planning in a period that is otherwise filled with uncertainty and we will now take the appropriate steps to internally review all of our daily activities, our financial plans and implement a working schedule that ensures maximum protection for those within the club and everyone connected to it.”

“The support of our loyal fan-base will be crucial in what will be a challenging period for our sport, club and community and we’ll be looking to engage them as much as possible in the upcoming weeks.”

A joint statement from Robert Elstone, the executive chairman of Super League Europe, and Ralph Rimmer, CEO of Rugby Football League, read: “These are unprecedented times, and they present significant financial and commercial implications for rugby league, which will be further considered during the period of suspension.

“Super League is also an international competition, and consideration has to be given to our clubs in Canada and France, particularly around travel restrictions and scheduling fixtures.

“Player welfare and maintaining the integrity of the competition are key concerns moving forward. Equally our responsibilities to rugby league communities remain front of mind for all of us.

“The whole country is facing major challenges – and the support of our fans, partners and stakeholders is needed now more than ever before.”

Last weekend's league and Challenge Cup matches - with the exception of Catalans-Leeds - took pace as usual, with the RFL saying it was following government guidelines.

But Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ramped up Britain's bid to restrict the outbreak, urging people not to go to social gatherings and saying the government will no longer support mass gatherings.

He said the number of cases could double every five or six weeks if Britain didn't take "draconian" action now.