The NRL says a compensation figure for the impact of the soccer World Cup is impossible to work out because the shape of the league in 2022 is an unknown.

NRL chief operating officer Graham Annesley, who met with the government's World Cup taskforce on Wednesday, says a claim could come after the soccer showpiece when the true cost to the league competition was known.

"We're certainly not going to know the extent to which we will be affected until much closer to the event and it could be that it's not until after the event, and the agreements that we reach will have to reflect that," Annesley told AAP.

"It's very difficult to forecast exactly what impact it will have so far out and that's why we don't want to put a figure on it up front because a lot of things can change between now and then.

"Everyone's looking for the magical figure - is it $100 million, is it $50 million, and that magical figure is not going to come out of this process.

"The guarantee (from World Cup organisers) needs to ensure that, regardless of how we're affected, that we will be compensated accordingly."

Annesley said progress had been made but no outcomes achieved at the meeting, which followed a get-together of all codes in Canberra last week.

"They're coming back to us with what they can and can't guarantee but I'm confident, based on the talks that we've had, that they are going to be able to address the issues that we have," he said.

"But they still have to get us to that point and they know that the timeframe in which they've got to deliver that is quite narrow."

The Australian bid needs to have finalised its venues, a major sticking point with the other codes, by May 14.

"It needs to be a level playing field," Annesley said.

"If some of the venues that we would normally use are unavailable then it's no longer a level playing field and the government and the taskforce accept that and that's why they're talking to us."

The AFL has already decreed Melbourne's Etihad Stadium off-limits to the World Cup.

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