NRL COVID-19 chaos as clubs missing dozens of stars upon training return
By Adam Pengilly
January 5, 2022 — 5.57pm
Premiers Penrith will be without a plethora of grand final stars and have only a couple of coaches available when they return to pre-season training, but Peter V’landys is confident the season will begin uninterrupted despite NSW’s rising COVID-19 infections swamping NRL clubs.
Dozens of players and staff from Sydney’s NRL teams will be missing when all clubs officially return to pre-season training on Thursday, either isolating after contracting the virus, or being deemed a close contact of a positive case.
Tennis Australia and the Victorian Government have attempted to calm public anger and confusion after Novak Djokovic was granted a medical exemption to compete in the Australian Open, saying the star athlete was not given special treatment.
It comes just five weeks out from the annual All-Stars fixture and the start of the NRLW competition later in February, and days after the NRL placed strict protocols on players in a move to quell the virus spread through the league, a move decried as “far from sustainable” by the players’ union.
The rapid spread of the Omicron variant through Australia hasn’t spared the NRL during the festive season with sources familiar with the case numbers claiming some clubs would only have half of their top 30 players available upon their return.
Nearly every club has had COVID-19 positive cases or personnel on the Apollo register asked to isolate.
The NRL ordered all clubs to undergo a round of testing this week and told them to delay resuming pre-season until Thursday for testing procedures to be bedded down.
But while Australia’s summer codes including the Big Bash League, NBL and A-League have been forced to postpone matches, the NRL is confident its prevention regimes will avoid such a scenario.
The code is contractually obliged to provide 25 regular season rounds and a finals series to broadcasters and given the brutal physical toll of matches, rescheduling games on short notice with limited recovery time will be far more difficult than in other sports.
“We will do our best to minimise disruption, but when you have 35,000 cases a day you’re not going to be immune to it,” V’landys said. “March is a long way away and hopefully things will look a lot better then.
“We are confident we have systems in place that will allow us to continue to play while these infections are occurring. We’ve proven that in racing at the moment.
I’m confident we’ll have a system in place which will enable us to play the games
- Peter V’landys
“We introduced rapid antigen tests six months ago and were one of the first ones to do it. The system has worked perfectly and even [on Wednesday] we’ve got jockeys who are positive, and they haven’t infected anyone else.
“We will do everything in our power for the game not to be disrupted. I’m confident we’ll have a system in place which will enable us to play the games.”
The Panthers have been among the worst affected and issued a statement on Wednesday claiming a “significant number” would be quarantining when training resumes, while more than a dozen Dragons players and staff have been diagnosed as positive cases.
The Eels, Tigers, Bulldogs and Sharks will also have disruptions with positive cases among players and staff on their Apollo register.
The NRL managed to complete the 2020 and 2021 competition without a single COVID-19 case.
Every player will take a rapid test each day upon entering training in a bid to curb any outbreaks within a playing group.
Multiple club officials spoken to by the Herald on Wednesday said the fact the virus had swept through playing rosters might not be such a bad thing given infected persons will develop a level of immunity for several months.
And now the NRL will have to weigh up whether the All-Stars clash and trial matches should proceed given the disruption to pre-season conditioning.
Players have already been banned from attending all indoor venues in public such as pubs, clubs and cinemas and are only allowed to have 10 visitors to their household, all of whom must provide a negative rapid test beforehand and stay outdoors.
Unvaccinated players - of which there are fewer than 10 in the NRL - will have segregated eating and bathroom areas at training facilities, won’t be allowed any visitors to their home and must train alone in public away from club activities.
“Players have shown their frustration publicly [with the protocols] and the RLPA is looking to put forward players’ concerns and ask for restrictions to be relaxed given they’re out of line with state and federal rules,” players’ union boss Clint Newton said. “The players want to be included up front.
“We will be running at a significant risk to our people, both club staff charged with the responsibility of managing all this, as well as players and staff, for compliance for a third year in a row. It’s going to take a toll and that’s a real concern we have. I would suggest it’s far from sustainable.”
The premiers are among the worst affected, but Peter V’landys insists the code’s testing regime will give it every chance of not postponing matches.
www.smh.com.au
www.9news.com.au
www.afr.com
www.abc.net.au
www.cowboys.com.au
