Dewsbury Rams' Mark Sawyer worried about Championship season beginning on time

New lockdown restrictions were announced on Monday after almost 60,000 Covid-19 cases were recorded in the United Kingdom on the same day.

Elite sport has been given the green light to continue, with Super League, Championship and League One clubs falling under the elite banner.

However, the Rugby Football League has advised sides outside of Super League to put their training on hold for a two-week period.

The RFL say the pause in training “will allow detailed discussions with clubs, before the publication of fixtures – which will be delayed, as will the draw for the first two rounds of the Challenge Cup, until a further announcement later this month.”

Dewsbury players were due to be tested on Tuesday and some players had even arrived to undergo testing before the news of the two-week pause was confirmed.

“Some of the players turned up at Dewsbury early to start having the test and to hear this news is just a big blow to people’s spirit,” said Sawyer.

“There’s no clear direction as to when people will be back in training and you’d be foolish not to worry about that season start date now.

"We’ve not got a lot of time to play with especially now with these two weeks being taken out of action.”

Community rugby league, due to resume this month, is suspended under Government rules.