Rugby league’s ‘Project Apollo’ gets its lift-off

The sport might be the last you would draw up in a world where social distancing has become the norm, but as Ben Burrows writes, its return promised much

The NRL returned on Thursday (Getty Images)

With its passing and pushing, rucking and wrestling rugby league might be the last sport you would draw up in a world where social distancing has become the new normal.

But here we are and, as of Thursday evening in Australia, the National Rugby League is back.

Like almost every other, Australia’s most-watched winter sport has been suspended in the wake of the global pandemic with the 2020 season shut down after just two rounds way back in March.