NRL

Nathaniel Roache has joined the squad at its training base in Tamworth, New South Wales after missing the team's charter flight last Sunday.

Roache sat out the opening couple of rounds of the season as he continued his recovery from a serious knee injury, but will now try and vie for the Warriors' nine jersey with Lawton and Wayde Egan, who started against both Newcastle and Canberra.

Thurston won everything there is to win in the game in his illustrious career with both the Cowboys and the Bulldogs, cementing his status as one of the legends of the game with his 2015 premiership win.

In the Channel Nine survey, Thurston, the  Cowboys and Queensland legend, placed ahead of Andrew Johns and Cameron Smith, while Darren Lockyer, Billy Slater, Brad Fittler, Greg Inglis, Cooper Cronk, Taumalolo and Laurie Daley rounded out the top 10.

Taumalolo was rated the "most destructive'' player in NRL history, outpointing former Brisbane Broncos great Gorden Tallis.

The squad flew out from Auckland yesterday after getting clearance to resume training ahead of a resumption of the competition at the end of the month.

They were without two players, hooker Nathaniel Roache, who felt unwell on the morning of departure and centre David Fusitu'a, who was given permission to delay his departure on compassionate grounds.

The players said their farewells as they were dropped off at Auckland airport.

The Auckland club hopes that final clearance will be given today to head across the Tasman to start preparing for the return of the National Rugby League (NRL).

The club is organising a charter flight for its 32 players and 18 staff to depart Auckland on Sunday.

The Australian government and state officials will hold meetings today to discuss frameworks around the return to sport at all levels and how they may implement that.

League commission chairman Peter V'Landys made the announcement after "extensive consultation" with broadcast partners, clubs, and key stakeholders.

The grand final of the most popular winter sport in Australia's eastern coastal states will be played on Oct. 25 and the competition draw will be determined in the next two weeks.

The two rounds of matches already played will be counted and the competition ladder remains in place when the games resume.

Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys has announced State of Origin will be played after the rescheduled NRL season.

The three match interstate series between New South Wales and Queensland is typically played during the round-robin.

V'landys has told Triple M radio there are two main driving factors for holding State of Origin after the NRL grand final.

"One is the possibility that we'll have crowds - not the crowds we have a normal State of Origin but a limited crowd with the social distancing," he said.

The NRL is looking to resume its season on May 28, with clubs to return to training early next month despite the coronavirus pandemic.

But Palaszczuk said she was still waiting to hear from the NRL, which has three clubs – Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys and Gold Coast Titans – based in Queensland.

"I have not seen any detailed plan," she told a news conference on Thursday.

His resignation was immediate and mutually agreed, the NRL said in a statement.

"It has been my great honour and privilege to be the CEO of the NRL for the last four years," Greenberg said in the statement.

"Despite the variety of challenges and pressures, I have loved every single minute of the journey.

"Our growth over the last four years has been extraordinary and I am very proud of my contribution to the game."

The ARL Commission made the announcement about wanting the premiership season to resume late next month following a meeting with its innovations committee today.

The decision was announced after Nine released a statement this morning taking aim at the NRL's financial management, which it claimed had left clubs and players facing uncertain futures.

"The details on the competition structure we haven't got yet because the landscape is changing around government boundaries," ARL commissioner Wayne Pearce said.

The National Rugby League, the most popular competition in the country's east coast, and the Australian Football League, which dominates in the south and west, are facing huge financial losses during the lockdown.

Both leagues were forced to abandon their seasons after they had barely started because of the government restrictions put in place to combat the spread of COVID-19, which has infected nearly 6,000 people and caused 49 deaths in Australia.