NRL CEO Todd Greenberg says he would have had no hesitation in locking up stadiums on the spot had that been the advice from government authorities on Friday.
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Speaking from Townsville ahead of Friday's Cowboys-Broncos derby, the official opening of a new $293 million stadium, Greenberg confirmed round one will go ahead as planned, with lockouts in effect from Monday.
The decision followed Friday's Council of Australian Governments meeting that determined all gatherings of more than 500 people will be cancelled from Monday.
It allows for the remainder of round one - including the Dragons Sunday-night clash with the Tigers in Wollongong - to go ahead with fans in attendance, with the lockout indefinitely in place following the fixture.
The COAG decision to issue the directive from Monday, and not immediately, raised eyebrows but Greenberg said he'd sought assurances that it was safe for games to continue over the weekend.
"We've listened to the authorities who know much, much more about this than I do and their advice to us is that through the weekend, right through to Sunday, that we're OK to have fans at our games," Greenberg said.
"The most important thing through this period of time is health and safety of our players and our fans. It is the top of every decision we're making.
"If the government had given us advice today to close the stadiums down then we would have done that. Quite simply, in my discussions with government, they're quite open and prepared for these games to continue over the weekend.
"What they're putting forward are precautionary measures and they will gradually come into force. The games will be open this weekend, then it will get tighter next week.
"We'll keep our eye on that advice as we go forward through the season. If government had said to us it wasn't safe we wouldn't be doing it, we will only act on the best advice."
Locking out fans will leave clubs facing huge financial losses, but Greenberg said no club will be left stricken by the move.
"It's going to have significant financial impacts for all of our clubs and for the game centrally," Greenberg said.
"I've just stepped out of a conference call with all 16 club CEOs and the message I gave them was simple 'we're in this together'. These are unprecedented times but the game will be right behind our 16 clubs.
"We'll leave no one behind. If there's some financial difficulties we will make sure they stay afloat and whole. The game's in this together, all 16 clubs are aligned in our views.
"All 16 clubs are in the same position, they're listening to the advice we're giving them, they're following that advice and all getting in alignment to prepare for this weekend's game.
"Obviously the work we'll do next week will be to prepare for what round two looks like. Hopefully this is a very finite period of time that this happens, don't know what the timeframe will be, but we want fans at games."
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