NRL acts swiftly with Broncos, Storm and Bulldogs to avoid chaos after Brisbane COVID scare
The NRL will hire a charter flight for Broncos players to ensure their clash against Melbourne is not impacted by a COVID scare in Queensland.
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The NRL will hire a private charter flight for Broncos players to ensure their clash against the Storm in Melbourne on Friday night is not derailed by a COVID scare in Brisbane.
There were fears the Broncos-Melbourne showdown at AAMI Park could be under threat after revelations of some minor community COVID infections in the Brisbane region.
But the NRL have moved swiftly, ramping up biosecurity protocols just hours before the Broncos’ round-three clash against Canterbury at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
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The NRL also pulled all of the Storm’s feeder club players out of Queensland.
Broncos players will leave Brisbane early, arriving in Melbourne on Tuesday night before undergoing COVID tests immediately to ensure they can take part in a captain’s run on Thursday for the Storm clash on Friday.
Broncos players were ordered into a clean zone at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night with only key Brisbane trainers allowed into the dressing-room.
Broncos players are not in a strict NRL-imposed COVID bubble at this stage, but have been instructed to only leave their homes for essential services to minimise community contact over the weekend.
Two locally-acquired cases of COVID have been recorded in Brisbane over the past two days, prompting the NRL to act.
Brisbane coach Kevin Walters is confident Broncos players will observe all COVID guidelines to take the field for the round-four clash against the Storm at AAMI Park.
“We got some information (on Friday) after training from the NRL,” Walters said.
“We are aware of the situation and we doing everything we can to keep the game moving.”
Canterbury players were told not to leave their Brisbane hotel as a precaution to the COVID-19 outbreak before the Broncos clash.
The Victorian border remains open to Queensland at this stage, although there are entry requirements.
On Saturday, the league instructed all NRL contracted players to be withdrawn from all Queensland Cup games with or against Brisbane-based QRL clubs.
This included Storm premiership centre Brenko Lee, who was due to make his comeback from a hamstring injury with the Easts Tigers.
All Storm contracted players were back on planes to Melbourne on Saturday.
‘Liability’: Dogs recruit opens up on horror 2020
Joe Stimson’s first season as a Bulldog lasted just 96 minutes.
Billed as a marquee recruit following a successful stint at the Storm, the back-rower’s shoulder crumbled under contact in just his first game when trying to tackle Parramatta’s Reagan Campbell-Gillard.
Stimson tried to play on but failed to complete Canterbury’s match against North Queensland the next week. He was booked for surgery days later.
“COVID hit and they delayed all non-elective surgery,” Stimson said.
“I had to wait another six weeks and by then my season was pretty much over.
“I was a liability when I tried to play on with it. I had no power. I thought I could have added a lot to the side but felt I let a lot of people down because of the injury. I was lucky I stayed in the bubble last year so I could stay around the boys and that helped keep me motivated.”
Stimson had to go in for another minor operation just before Christmas as his shoulder struggled to regain its range of motion. That setback meant he missed the opening two weeks of training in January.
“There was scar tissue,” Stimson said.
“Because I was in a sling for so long my shoulder sort of froze up on me. I had to get it cleaned out and that worked wonders.
“The physios assured me that it was just the scar tissue and after surgery I’ll be fine. They were right.”
The change in coach at the club also paired Stimson with a fellow Temora product in Trent Barrett. While the pair had minimal contact before working alongside each other at the Bulldogs, Stimson adored Barrett from afar.
“Whenever I saw him in Temora I would say hello,” Stimson said.
“Whenever Trent was in town, everyone knew about it pretty quickly and everyone had a spring in their step. He is a local legend.”
Stimson has made his way back via reserve grade this season but a long-term injury to Raymond Faitala-Mariner has given him a chance of a first grade recall. He will start off the bench as the Bulldogs face fellow winless side Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium on Saturday night.
“I‘ve been really nervous since Baz (Barrett told me) I’d be playing,” Stimson said.
“I’ve got little butterflies in my stomach, the same feeling as when I made my debut. Having a year off it really takes you back to the beginning.”
Originally published as NRL acts swiftly with Broncos, Storm and Bulldogs to avoid chaos after Brisbane COVID scare
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