The man who leads the sport was once mocked but has come out fighting and says clubs need to adapt to survive the pandemic
“Resilience,” Ralph Rimmer says as he considers the best word to describe how rugby league has sustained itself during a three-month crisis that is still a long way from being over. Rimmer is the Rugby Football League chief executive who last month dragged his sport back from the brink when he negotiated a £16m emergency loan from the government amid the onslaught of Covid-19.
“Over the last 125 years we’ve demonstrated our resilience,” Rimmer says. “We’re facing exceptional circumstances but I don’t think anyone in the sport feels cowed. It’s very much a feeling of pulling together to find a solution.”