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We’re yet to reach the halfway point of 2020, but already it’s been one of the most eventful years in history – one that will be talked about for generations to come.

When the air clears (and coronavirus has been tackled effectively enough to allow sport to return) there are a few rugby league players who are going to make some history of their own.

I’ve picked out three who are going to make 2021 their year.

Read on to find out who they are and if their success is going to benefit your team or your fiercest rivals.

Bradman Best

Bradman Best is just 18 and won’t turn 20 until August 2021, however, the bulky centre, fullback or wingman is a fearsome prospect who could terrorise teams NRL for years to come.

He’s played just three games for the Newcastle Knights but has already managed a try and twice featured on the winning side – the odds offered by best sports-based online casinos found at Online Casinos attest to the fact that his presence is already boosting Newcastle Knights’ chance of victory in their games.

Best hasn’t had the best luck with fitness so far in his career – he sustained a foot injury that required surgery, just as it appeared he could make the left centre spot his own for the long term.

This means that coronavirus may have come at a good time for the young star, with the forced suspension caused by the pandemic giving him a little more breathing room to recover.

And once Best is back there’s little doubt he’ll force his way back into the side.

The question then is how great will his 2021 be? It’s difficult to say right now. However, I’m confident that by its close, Bradman Best is a name that will be known to rugby league fans all over the world.

Corey Allan

Brisbane born Corey Allan is a powerful, hard-running fullback and winger who plays for South Sydney Rabbitohs. He finished the 2019 season with 12 points and also picked up the John Sattler 'Rookie of the Year' award, marking him out a serious talent.

Allan’s greatest quality is his bulldozing runs, taking and shifting plays from his halves. But that’s not his only strength – his defensive game is also strong, with his goal-line tackles a real asset to the Rabbitohs. 

Allan has already shown his value to the Rabbitohs and I’m expecting 2021 to be the year when he takes it to the next-level – graduating from youthful talent to an indomitable force of nature.

Daly Cherry-Evans

Dale Cherry-Evans is a halfback who captains Manly Warringah Sea Eagles and stars for Australia. He has close to 500 career points and won the NRL Grand Final, but it’s not his on-pitch success that’s going to give him a great 2021 – it’s what he does once the action ends.

Contract honesty has long been sacrosanct in the NRL and Cherry-Evans exemplified this in 2015 – he announced that he’d agreed to join the Gold Coast Titans on a four-year deal, before reneging on his promise and committing to Manly.

Unsurprisingly, the rugby league world didn’t look kindly on this.

Cherry-Evans was booed by fans and dismissed by peers, until the outbreak of COVID-19.

Since coronavirus changed sport across the globe, Cherry-Evans has become a man of the people – namely, his fellow players. This is because he’s now seen as a leader, someone who looks out for the financial interests of NFL players during a crisis.

Sure, Daly Cherry-Evans will put in some great performances on the pitch in 2021, but his great year will come from the work he does away from it.

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Bradman Best, Corey Allan, and Daly Cherry-Evans are all at different stages of their career and each is at a different level of importance to their team.

But one thing they all have in common is that they’re going to have a spectacular 2021.

So, get comfortable and watch as Best, Allan, and Cherry-Evans deliver the results that I’m expecting them to – particularly if it’s for your team.

The National Rugby League (NRL) has agreed on a recovery plan with Clubs relating to the impact of Covid-19 on the 2020 Telstra Premiership competition.
 
Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chair Peter V’landys and NRL Chief Executive Todd Greenberg said the plan provided funding certainty for the remainder of the 2020 season.

The deal, unanimously supported by all 16 clubs, was created on the back of a significant whole of game cost reduction. 
 
“We have a consolidated plan and working with the Clubs and the players, are united in our efforts to do all we can to protect rugby league,” Mr V’landys said. 
 
“We had no option but to stop the competition in the wake of advice from our Biosecurity and Pandemic expert but remain optimistic that the season will restart as quickly as possible, ideally by July 1. If that isn’t possible, then we need to be prepared for all contingencies.
 
“The crisis has highlighted that the game’s present cost structure is not sustainable and the ARLC will lead by example in substantially reducing its costs now and into the future.”
 
The revised financial models provide Clubs with the capacity to survive the financial year with either a remodelled 20-week competition, including finals series and Origin, or a worst case scenario of no football being played again this year. 
 
Details of the recovery plan include:

• The NRL will pay a total of $40 million in monthly grant payments to the Clubs between April and October to cover their ongoing operational costs. This is an increase of $6.4m of funding compared to the 2020 budget;
• The NRL will reduce its operating costs by 53%, including a 95% reduction in staffing levels during the shutdown period and a 25% cut in executive salaries.

The Australian Rugby League Commission and the National Rugby League has tonight announced it will suspend the 2020 Telstra Premiership Season until further notice.