Super League's restart: Everything you need to know

When will the season start again?

Sunday, August 2 – with three matches on the same date at one venue, behind closed doors.

They will be televised by Sky Sports, and all three matches were postponed from before the season was suspended. They are: Hull KR v Toronto Wolfpack, St Helens v Catalans Dragons and Huddersfield v Leeds.

It will be four months and 19 days since the campaign was suspended because of the coronavirus pandemic.

When will Wigan start playing and against who?

The following weekend – on the weekend of Aug 7-9 – when there will be a full round of six games. Those fixtures have not been revealed.

How many Super League matches will they play?

The season has been reduced from 29 rounds, to 22. Given Wigan have played seven matches already, it gives them 15 more league games to play.

This has meant the ‘loop’ fixtures and the Magic Weekend (Wigan were due to play seven teams three times) will be scrapped.

This allows the 12 clubs to play each other twice. Wigan’s first seven matches were against Warrington, Castleford, Toronto, Hull FC, Huddersfield, Hull KR and Salford.

So a shorter season. What else has changed?

The play-offs has been pruned back to four teams – presumably semi-finals (1st v 4th, 2nd v 3rd) – ahead of a Grand Final in late-November, possibly at Old Trafford.

And the first batch of matches will be played behind-closed-doors at neutral venues – possibly Leeds’ Headingley, Warrington and St Helens, to reduce costs and ease safeguarding measures.

When will Wigan return to the DW Stadium?

Super League was originally working on the theory that October 1 was the earliest that limited-crowds could return, but the culture secretary recently suggested it may be as early as September.

With that in mind – and with clubs keen to persuade season ticket holders not to request refunds – don’t be surprised if the campaign is stacked with the most appealing fixtures, as well as a scattering of midweek matches, later on. This will improve the chances that supporters can attend.

The situation, though, remains fluid.

Super League’s executive chairman Robert Elstone (right) said: “While the recent government announcements underline increasing optimism, the pandemic remains unpredictable. Our final fixture schedule needs to respond to opportunities that will unfold over the coming weeks. Full details of fixtures, venues and season structure will be confirmed as they become known.”

Are there any concerns about playing multiple games at one venue?

Yes. Two Sydney Roosters players – Victor Radley and Sam Verrills – suffered ACL injuries at Bankwest Stadium, the most used venue since the NRL returned last month.

“Hope Super League are watching this,” tweeted Wigan halfback Jackson Hastings during the match. “So many ACLs, (hamstring) tears etc. So many games on one field is a recipe for disaster, it’s hard to watch. Player welfare has to come into consideration.”

What’s happening with relegation?

We don’t know yet. It is expected to be scrapped, given how much Covid-19 has impacted on this season. Championship and League One clubs last week discussed whether to restart or scrap the season ahead of an RFL board meeting on July 6.

Will Toronto and Catalans play any home matches this year?

Nothing has been confirmed. It seems unlikely Toronto will get to stage any matches this season. Catalans, though, want home matches as they can have 5,000 fans at games. Super League say they are “closely monitoring government directives in both France and Canada”.

What will happen with the Challenge Cup?

Nothing has been confirmed, but it is expected to go ahead. The sixth-round ties look set to be played on the August 23 weekend – which will be Wigan’s third match back.

The Warriors’ fixture against Warrington is one of three all-Super League ties, but the other five games all involve teams from outside the top-flight – raising the question: What will happen if the Championship and League One don’t return?

Fortunately, those five ties each include a Super league side, meaning the top-flight sides could, hypothetically, be given a bye into the quarter-finals.

The BBC usually televise two matches, and Sky also has an option to screen two matches, raising the possibility of two double-headers on TV (if more than three games are played).

There have been some suggestions the Challenge Cup Final will take place at the end of October, either at Wembley or another major stadium.

Will all behind-closed-doors games be televised?

Possibly - in some way. Sky Sports will show all three matches on the opening day of the restart and with other matches stacked in a similar way in the opening few weeks, they may follow suit.

But if not, it is understood clubs are looking at ways of showing all their games online, in a similar way that the EFL Championship has done since returning, to try and appease season ticket holders.

Will next season be affected?

Yes. The 2021 campaign will start later than its usual late-January/early-February slot to give players a break before pre-season training. There has been no mention of the World Club Challenge at the start of next year.