Everyone who's lost their job or knows they could at any second wants to be working. Even if it involves staring at the same four walls of your house every hour of the day.
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And NRL players are no different. That's why they're so keen to return to the field. And if it's safe to do so then they should be allowed to. Along with everyone else whose jobs are safe to return to.
The precarious financial state of the NRL means those running the game and the clubs are desperate to return as well.
But there's also reasons the game shouldn't come back. The main one being it has the potential to send a dangerous message to Australian society - we've beaten the 'rona and everything can go back to normal.
That has the potential to lead to even more deaths and even more job losses. Send us into another lockdown. No one wants that. It has the potential to be completely soul sapping as well.
It makes for a tricky tightrope the NRL, medical experts and governments need to walk to ensure that doesn't happen.
Reasons for an NRL return
The main beneficiaries of a resumption of the NRL, which they're aiming to do by May 28, is obviously the players and everyone employed in the game.
Their preferred plan for a 15-round competition - which would see the Canberra Raiders remain at home and fly-in and fly-out of Sydney to play games in front of empty grandstands - will help thousands of people get back to work.
If the doctors have given the return the go ahead and it's as safe as staying in houses then there's no reason it shouldn't resume.
Given horse racing is the only other sport going on at the moment it could be a massive boon for rugby league. Anyone and everyone could be watching it to get their sport fix. There's the chance to attract and retain fans to the game for generations to come.
It's also great for the current fans as well.
Staring at a TV screen with eight games over the course of a weekend certainly makes for a welcome break from staring at the aforementioned four walls.
There's only so many walks around the block and trips to the supermarket you can make to break up the monotony of spending 90 per cent of your time cooped up at home.
Not to mention it gives you something to chat about with your mates on the next Zoom catch-up. Something to read in The Canberra Times that's not just coronavirus this, coronavirus that.
It also provides a ray of hope for all of us that we're on the way back. On a return to some semblance of normality. Whatever that looks like in a post COVID-19 world.
But that pro can also be a con. A reason we shouldn't be so hasty.
The case against
It also sends a message that we've got the rona beat. We've flattened the curve and now it's all plain sailing back to normality. Business as usual.
If it's OK for 13 blokes to bash and crash into each other then surely I can duck out and have a kick of the footy with my mates down the park.
Surely we can have a BBQ and a few beverages afterwards as well. I mean, it's not like we're going to be wrestling each other while we're doing it.
Then we'll chuck some firewood in a 44-gallon drum and have a few more beverages into the wee small hours.
It's hard enough at the moment to convince people they shouldn't be ducking down the coast over the Easter weekend due to the danger of spreading the virus.
It's not like they're going to be doing anything different at their holiday shack to what they're doing here in Canberra is it?
Going for a walk on the beach. Going to the shops to buy some food. Maybe going for a run. Maybe even a swim if the weather's good. And the rest of the time? Staring at the four walls of the shack.
Not much different to what they'd be doing in Canberra. But we've been told that's not safe. So how could playing footy be?
Anyone who's been paying attention to what's happening in the USA or Italy or Spain - even France or the United Kingdom - will know just how serious this virus is. Will know how many people are dying every day.
The message from the politicians is that this isn't going to be a quick fix. That we need to adhere to restrictions for weeks and months if Australia's going to avoid the same boat.
An NRL return can't be allowed to undermine that message. Especially given how good it would be to have the footy back. But it'd be equally awful to lose it again.