News Coronavirus and NRL

[mozza91]

I'm glad that Broncos and Titans are bad. Otherwise giving them a home game every week would practically be gifting them a win every week.

 

[Burwood]

Will Chambers says he “made a mistake” by breaking the NRL bubble to attend the birth of his child but the extraordinary lengths he’s gone to, to return for the Sharks — and to keep his career alive — more than make up for it.

“The wife was a bit upset I had to leave in such a rush, but if I stayed that might have been me done — career over,” he said.

Look, I’m not whinging, I made a bad call. And if someone said to me you have to drive all day and all night to play NRL as a kid when I was starting off, I would not have hesitated for a minute.

‘That might have been me done — career over’: Chambers’ 24-hour road trip after ‘mistake’

‘That might have been me done’: Chambers’ 24-hour road trip after ‘mistake’

www.foxsports.com.au

Before I go calling Chambers a shit human, I just want to make sure I’m getting the gist of the article- he's upset because he was with his wife when she gave birth? And being there means that, as a washed 33 year old, he missed putting himself in the shop window?

 

[roofromoz]

Also f**k penrith.

Be glad you have still have a sport to watch merkins.

Agree with the second paragraph.

But seriously, there are a minimum of 12 clubs with no home ground advantage for the next few weeks at least. Make the best of it.

 

[Ron's_Mate]

A bit more info on Jai Arrow & the Origin camp. He had two women visit him but the NRL investigation is going nowhere because as Danny Weidler reports "The women work for a company that survives on discretion, making any kind of investigation difficult."

Where there’s a Will: Chambers’ 24-hour, 1700km road trip to keep career alive

On Thursday night, the Sharks star left his newborn baby, two small children and wife in Melbourne to embark on a mad dash to beat that city’s lockdown.

www.smh.com.au

 

[JamesRustle]

A bit more info on Jai Arrow & the Origin camp. He had two women visit him but the NRL investigation is going nowhere because as Danny Weidler reports "The women work for a company that survives on discretion, making any kind of investigation difficult."

Where there’s a Will: Chambers’ 24-hour, 1700km road trip to keep career alive

On Thursday night, the Sharks star left his newborn baby, two small children and wife in Melbourne to embark on a mad dash to beat that city’s lockdown.

www.smh.com.au

So they work for the Broncos directly, or indirectly through a shelf company with Andrew Gee as sole director.

 

[Perth Red]

Rugby League Commission chair Peter V’landys has confirmed players won’t be asked to take pay-cuts as the NRL begins an extended stay in Queensland that’s expected to cost at least $40 million.
Each club took 30 players and 11 staff members to stay in one of the three hubs — Brisbane, Sunshine Coast or Gold Coast — for a minimum of one month.
NRL CEO Andrew Abdo confirmed last week that the move is estimated to cost between $12 million and $15 million a month as the game fights to keep the competition up and running.

“Out of good spirit and goodwill, we won’t be doing anything. There will be no reduction,” Peter V’landys told the Sun-Herald.

Players won’t cop pay-cut despite NRL’s $40M relocation cost

Players won’t cop pay-cut despite NRL’s $40M relocation cost

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[Pretty Penny]

Well that is all that matters tbh, no pay cuts. You beauty .

All major codes of sport in Australia are running at losses and they can only last for so long.

 

[Captain Apollo]

No NRL games will be relocated to South Australia. Just been announced they will go into lockdown at 6.00 pm today.

Metropolitan Adelaide to be declared Commonwealth COVID hotspot — as it happened

Finance Minister Simon Birmingham says metro Adelaide, as well as Gawler and Adelaide Hills, will be declared a Commonwealth hotspot.

www.abc.net.au

 

[johns_reds]

Good to see families are getting an exemption to leave NSW and go to QLD during lockdown!

Most of them will be free to roam around the grounds so long as they are outside the 3 LGA's, Families inside the 3 LGA's will have their own section of the hotel...

I heard a rumor that bookings and events such as weddings at certain hotels have been cancelled to accommodate the NRL booking out the whole hotel.

I'd be pissed if that happened to us.

QLD Govt approve NRL’s bid to reunite families with relocated players amid Covid crisis

QLD Govt approve NRL’s bid to reunite families with relocated players amid Covid crisis

www.foxsports.com.au

 

[colly]

A bit more info on Jai Arrow & the Origin camp. He had two women visit him but the NRL investigation is going nowhere because as Danny Weidler reports "The women work for a company that survives on discretion, making any kind of investigation difficult."

Where there’s a Will: Chambers’ 24-hour, 1700km road trip to keep career alive

On Thursday night, the Sharks star left his newborn baby, two small children and wife in Melbourne to embark on a mad dash to beat that city’s lockdown.

www.smh.com.au

For the correct fee I could extend the investigation with special emphasis on discreetly meeting the two women. After the 'meeting' I'll have a 'exhausted' report on the table- pronto.

 

[Ron's_Mate]

For the correct fee I could extend the investigation with special emphasis on discreetly meeting the two women. After the 'meeting' I'll have a 'exhausted' report on the table- pronto.

Sounds like a happy ending

 

[Generalzod]

Good to see families are getting an exemption to leave NSW and go to QLD during lockdown!

Most of them will be free to roam around the grounds so long as they are outside the 3 LGA's, Families inside the 3 LGA's will have their own section of the hotel...

I heard a rumor that bookings and events such as weddings at certain hotels have been cancelled to accommodate the NRL booking out the whole hotel.

I'd be pissed if that happened to us.

QLD Govt approve NRL’s bid to reunite families with relocated players amid Covid crisis

QLD Govt approve NRL’s bid to reunite families with relocated players amid Covid crisis

www.foxsports.com.au

I heard that rumour as well about the wedding, I'll be pissed off aswell,
Being serious here the Queensland government didnt allow people to see their sick relatives people that where dying and they allow families because they play Rugby league....The world gone mad.

 

[Pretty Penny]

Put simply, the NRL is running out of places to run away to. Should Covid manage to become established in the general Queensland population, it’s hard to see any other state welcoming the competition. No matter the hopes of Shaun Johnson, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would never countenance an Aotearoa migration. Teams could potentially migrate north to regional Queensland if any outbreak was restricted to South-East Queensland.

Alternatively, with all the teams sans Melbourne in one state, even if Queensland were to lock down, the show could go on as it is now. Players in strict bubbles, given exemptions to train and play, without having to travel interstate. The only difference from now would be the general public being locked out and banged up at home.

But this would require a hefty chunk of government goodwill and buy-in. That links the far larger threat of Covid derailment: players failing to abide by bubble requirements.
Such restrictions are very mentally taxing – particularly without families to begin with. Some of the contradictions appear mystifying on an individual health level, and as much as players know their responsibilities, it comes down, as Josh McGuire noted, to thinking they won’t get caught. Players, at the end of the day, are human.
Play was only allowed to continue, the circus only allowed to move north of the Tweed, because of guarantees to stick to bubble life.
State governments are already aware of the us vs them mentality from the general population when it comes to Covid-restrictions. The idea that footy players get special treatment and exemptions mean that any biosecurity slip-ups by the NRL even remotely resembling the St George-Illawarra debacle would be the perfect excuse to shut it down.
It’s come as quite a surprise that, with vaccination now available to all Australian adults, the NRL haven’t made inoculation a prerequisite, or at least make players sign a waiver as they have done with flu. It would go a long way to rebuilding trust, demonstrating the league’s commitment to public health and sensibility.
If there are outbreaks within squads, it’s possible that we might see game postponements, cancellations, even some form of points percentage table in a worst-case scenario. With the World Cup at the end of October, there isn’t scope to push play-off dates back like last year.

Of course, the future is unpredictable, particularly with an epidemic doing the rounds. New South Wales may soon quash transmission and allow the clubs to return. But the NRL must plan for all eventualities – up to and including postponing the competition as a last resort.

 

[blaza88z]

Put simply, the NRL is running out of places to run away to. Should Covid manage to become established in the general Queensland population, it’s hard to see any other state welcoming the competition. No matter the hopes of Shaun Johnson, New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern would never countenance an Aotearoa migration. Teams could potentially migrate north to regional Queensland if any outbreak was restricted to South-East Queensland.

Alternatively, with all the teams sans Melbourne in one state, even if Queensland were to lock down, the show could go on as it is now. Players in strict bubbles, given exemptions to train and play, without having to travel interstate. The only difference from now would be the general public being locked out and banged up at home.

But this would require a hefty chunk of government goodwill and buy-in. That links the far larger threat of Covid derailment: players failing to abide by bubble requirements.
Such restrictions are very mentally taxing – particularly without families to begin with. Some of the contradictions appear mystifying on an individual health level, and as much as players know their responsibilities, it comes down, as Josh McGuire noted, to thinking they won’t get caught. Players, at the end of the day, are human.
Play was only allowed to continue, the circus only allowed to move north of the Tweed, because of guarantees to stick to bubble life.
State governments are already aware of the us vs them mentality from the general population when it comes to Covid-restrictions. The idea that footy players get special treatment and exemptions mean that any biosecurity slip-ups by the NRL even remotely resembling the St George-Illawarra debacle would be the perfect excuse to shut it down.
It’s come as quite a surprise that, with vaccination now available to all Australian adults, the NRL haven’t made inoculation a prerequisite, or at least make players sign a waiver as they have done with flu. It would go a long way to rebuilding trust, demonstrating the league’s commitment to public health and sensibility.
If there are outbreaks within squads, it’s possible that we might see game postponements, cancellations, even some form of points percentage table in a worst-case scenario. With the World Cup at the end of October, there isn’t scope to push play-off dates back like last year.

Of course, the future is unpredictable, particularly with an epidemic doing the rounds. New South Wales may soon quash transmission and allow the clubs to return. But the NRL must plan for all eventualities – up to and including postponing the competition as a last resort.

I'm not reading all of that but I did read the first paragraph

Yes, it's a miracle the NRL is still going and hasn't really had to be put on hold for any length of time as was the case with European sporting leagues, we've had it so good compared to the rest of the world to the point where I think people actually take it for granted.

What do you mean I'm a Penrith fan and I have to sit at home while my team plays exclusively in QLD amidst a global pandemic, what an outrage! Those fkn Broncos, getting all the leg ups again.. where's that fkn VHS.

 

[Pretty Penny]

For the past two seasons we have seen the Warriors sacrifice so much to relocate from New Zealand to the Central Coast of NSW so the game could continue. The Storm have spent a fair chunk of time living in Queensland for the same reason.

A majority of the competition will now have a taste of how hard it has been for those two teams.

But of course, there are those out there that think this is just a given, and the NRL should do whatever it takes to give us our pleasure of watching footy. And they are not allowed to complain about either.
“But they are on tonnes of money! Of course they should just do whatever it takes so the game keeps going!”
Nope. Not every player is on Jason Taumalolo or Anthony Milford money. And even if they are it doesn’t matter.

“But the families can just relocate with the teams! They have it so easy!”
Again, no. This is not confirmed yet, and if they do get the green light not all families will be able to do that.
They have work, family, and other commitments that will keep them at home.
Seeing Shaun Johnson’s reaction said it all. He was told live on air about the move, and you could tell he was absolutely shattered.
“It’s disappointing,” he said.
“Yeah I’ve got my views on how Sydney in particular has handled this whole situation. Look, as long as we get to keep playing I guess and this is our job.
“Whatever it takes to deliver what we get paid to do. I’m sure all the players will get on board.
“It’s not ideal, a lot of people will watch this interview right now and say: ‘you get paid a heap of money do what you’re told’.

“But we’ve got lives outside of football, I’ve got a young family and we’ve got no support over here anyway. It’ll be a difficult conversation to go home to my wife.”
He is absolutely right.

 

[Perth Red]

Yeh going to live in a Qlnd resort for a couple of months so you can keep earning your $200k-$1million salary is pretty tough! I'm sure all those people not able to earn anything, or who are having to close their businesses down will have lots of sympathy for the plight of an NRL player. Only team that deserve our admiration are the Warriors, and last year Storm, who were away from families for a very long time in some cases.

 

[BunniesMan]

Nobody is saying football players can't have difficult aspects to their lives. But the minimum wage player is making a good salary for normal people, the average player is richer than most, and the top tier are multi millionaires. The vast majority of people would gladly swap lives with them.

Yes the wives, girlfriends, kids etc might be burdened. But they'd never swap lives with the labourer who has just been kicked off site for weeks, or the casual service worker trying to make it through uni, when their hours have stopped but the bills haven't stopped. I am limited in how much sympathy I can have for some of society's most fortunate people.

 

[AlwaysGreen]

The most unfortunate members of society are the regular Joes/Joannes that have to put up with people like Perth Red and BunniesMan

 

[ACTPanthers]

We've had a couple of Raiders juniors board with us here and can guarantee it's not all about the money. Some of these young kids were already on decent contracts for 18-19 year olds, but a couple really struggled being away from home and family. I can sympathise with the ones who may be struggling being away from home.

Warriors players are absolute champions for the sacrifices they've made over the past 2 seasons. They have to be rewarded in some way shape or form.

 

[Pretty Penny]

Such restrictions are very mentally taxing – particularly without families to begin with. Some of the contradictions appear mystifying on an individual health level, and as much as players know their responsibilities, it comes down, as Josh McGuire noted, to thinking they won’t get caught. Players, at the end of the day, are human.

Play was only allowed to continue, the circus only allowed to move north of the Tweed, because of guarantees to stick to bubble life.

State governments are already aware of the us vs them mentality from the general population when it comes to Covid-restrictions. The idea that footy players get special treatment and exemptions mean that any biosecurity slip-ups by the NRL even remotely resembling the St George-Illawarra debacle would be the perfect excuse to shut it down.

It’s come as quite a surprise that, with vaccination now available to all Australian adults, the NRL haven’t made inoculation a prerequisite, or at least make players sign a waiver as they have done with flu. It would go a long way to rebuilding trust, demonstrating the league’s commitment to public health and sensibility.

If there are outbreaks within squads, it’s possible that we might see game postponements, cancellations, even some form of points percentage table in a worst-case scenario. With the World Cup at the end of October, there isn’t scope to push play-off dates back like last year

Manlys rise has been the most interesting narrative of the season

They’re 1-4 against the teams above them, but most of those games were early season when they were struggling horribly. They have Storm and Eels back to back in Rounds 21 and 22 which should be an excellent barometer to their season

If they have everyone on deck they can definitely compete with the top 5… I’m just not sure how that equates to going toe to toe with the Storm in a big end of season game…

Preseason predictions can’t take in to account injuries , loss of form and emergence of talent and to a lesser extent the same applies 6 weeks out from the finals.

The Storm lose Pap and Harry Grant for much of the season but while the Cheese is an obvious replacement for Grant , Hynes form wasn’t predicted by too many. Meanwhile the Panthers appeared to have strong depth but they don’t look anything like title winners when one player is missing, Cleary.

DCE was a major reason why the Eagles won in 2011 because he was on peanuts but delivered a million dollar season. If Schuster and the big O deliver on their promise over the next two months then you never know but the two horses in the race are still strong favorites for all sorts of reasons. Making the top 4 is still a massive bonus and the Eagles are long shots.