NRL clubs will return to training on Monday, though players will be banned from tackling and wrestling in line with the Australian Institute of Sport's 'return to sport' principles currently guiding the government's approach to sport.

It leaves clubs subject to 'Level B' restrictions, though it's anticipated to shift to 'Level C," which would allow full contact training to resume, by the end of this weekend.

Should that occur it would leave little in the way of the NSW Rugby League's proposed July 18 start date for its grassroots competitions, with players cleared to train from July 1.

Fears remain about clubs' ability to meet the financial demands of getting a first-grade side on the park but IDRL general manager Chris Bannerman said there's a more optimistic view than when the NSWRL first opened the door for a mid-July return to play.

"It's one cautious step forward each day as we see what's going on but I'm probably more confident than I was a couple of weeks ago that we're going to see some sport this year," Bannerman said.

"I think everyone's feeling that way, certainly the NSW Rugby League are keen to see rugby league played again. It could look different to what it traditionally has but we all accept that.

"We need to work through all the options to come up with something that' going to give us what we want and allow players to participate without creating too much strain on clubs and officials.

"There's some questions to be answered and we've still got a bit of time to sort these things out because we're not looking at a return to training until July 1."

The league was set to extend its competition to 16 rounds this season, two more than its previous 14-game home and away season, ahead of a top-four finals series.

It was thought a July start could cut that figure in half but the league is exploring options that could see the season run into late October.

Bannerman said other measures, such as a cap on match payments, will be looked at once clubs have a firmer idea of the scheduling demands.

"Part of the survey was getting peoples' feelings about what a worthwhile or minimum length of a season would be," Bannerman said.

"I think the indication we've got, if we do go around, we're probably looking at 10-12 rounds. We wouldn't want to progress too far into that Spring period but, if it were the case, we'd have to go a little bit further than normal, possibly into October.

"We're going to finalise a proposal back to clubs this week. There's certainly some questions people want answered and we're not going to be pressuring any clubs to do anything that could set them back a year or more into the future.

"It could go a number of ways but, if we can come up with a scenario that's going to accommodate everyone, I'm confident we'll get something up and running that gives us a viable competition.

"It may mean we're playing under different conditions than we've been used to and I think most people would accept that because it's certainly different circumstances than we're dealing with."