Talking RL: Covid-19 results a huge wake-up call for Super League

Second thing to say is speculating how they contracted the virus is wild and unhelpful. It could have come from a family member, for example.

But this has certainly been a huge wake-up call about the continued risks - and the ramifications for Super League.

Players are being tested once a week - at great expense.

They're being quizzed about their health and having their temperatures checked and - at venues - being told where to go, what to do and not to pack down.

Away from training and playing, they're being trusted to obey by Government rules and suggestions. Social-distancing, washing hands, just like the rest of us.

But this development is a reminder they're not like the rest of us. They're in closer proximity, wrestling, sweating... and positive tests have huge implications.

Already, Hull's game with Castleford has been postponed and I imagine their Cup game the following week will be off, too.

"I've seen some messages about players now being professional," tweeted Josh Griffin. "Think people forget we as players have partners who go to work, children that go to schools, food shop anywhere it could be picked up. People need to realise that no one is to blame and it can be picked up anywhere."

Which is true. The risk can't be removed, it can only be reduced.

But it's fair to say that in the NRL, biosecurity measures are stricter.

Wayne Bennett, for example, is now in isolation and can't directly coach Souths players. Did he test positive? No.... he had lunch at a restaurant with his partner. A Dragons player is sidelined for going out for breakfast.

Strict rules limit players and officials to their homes, training and games, and 'bubbles' in which they avoid interactions with the community.

Of those who have broken the rules, boss Peter V'landys said: "They’re jeopardising future generations of the game of rugby league.

“Because if it shuts down and we can’t operate, it will have dire effects for years. Not months, but years. If they don’t (wake up to it), and we don’t finish the season, their consequences will be catastrophic.”

I questioned before the restart whether clubs should agree a figure in which games could still take place without X number of players, due to Covid-19 tests - the same way matches go ahead if a club is missing three players on international duty, but not if there are any more.

In rugby union, Premiership rugby players have been warned if they break strict coronavirus guidelines, they may hand their opponents a 20-0 win.

This is not a criticism of any Super League player. Not in the slightest.

I've nothing but admiration for the way they have all accepted pay cuts to keep their clubs going, and taken to the field after little more than two weeks' training. But this is a constant learning experience and, in hindsight, perhaps they needed stronger directions and stricter rules from the leadership of the sport.

The NRL has banned trips to the pub but kept scrums. Here, it's the other way around.

The timing of these positive tests at Hull FC could have been worse; from next month, games come thicker and faster in a congested fixture list already jarred by Toronto's withdrawal.

And this has certainly been a harsh reminder about what is at stake.