Locker Room: NRL coaches fear becoming ‘story of the year’ as Covid losses threaten season
In the last football-free weekend of the season, NRL coaches are hoping their players don’t become headlines in the game’s worrying theme, DAVID RICCIO writes.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
One NRL club chief executive has already labelled it the “story of the year.”
“You wait for the game through the season that six players have to pull out on the day of a game due to Covid,” the club CEO said.
“And then imagine if those players have to isolate for seven days, but our next game is in six days.
“Add injuries to the equation and you’ve quickly got a massive story and issue for how clubs continue to stay competitive.
“At what point will a game be cancelled, or at the very least, postponed due to an unfair advantage for the opposition?”
Stream every game of every round of the 2022 NRL Telstra Premiership Season Live & Ad-Break Free During Play on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now.
And this from another NRL club boss: “The Broncos have already lost their $1 million-plus halfback, Adam Reynolds, for the opening game due to Covid — the rest of us are watching on hoping it doesn’t happen to us, but know it probably will.’’
Meanwhile, in the US, in case you haven’t caught up with the news that broke early on Friday morning, the NFL has scrapped all Covid protocols for the first time since they were introduced two years ago.
In an NFL memo sent to all 32 clubs, the changes were made due to “encouraging trends regarding the prevalence and severity of Covid-19.”
As of last Friday, regardless of vaccination status, NFL players and staff no longer must wear face coverings at team facilities.
All daily testing of players or officials for Covid has stopped.
Weight room restrictions, including capacity limits, gone too. Social distancing signs are also no longer mandatory.
As far as the NFL is concerned, testing will occur only when clinically indicated or at the direction of a team physician.
Each team must have a facility to accommodate anyone who reports symptoms that require testing.
Australian sports leaders have a history of following measures and governance procedures the major US sports have pressure tested.
However, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo isn’t budging just yet. Abdo says a safe and manageable medium has been reached with vaccinated players, who no longer have to operate inside a bubble.
He added that NRL clubs will be able to access development players or draft in talent from their state cup feeder teams to ensure they can field a competitive side if there is a Covid-19 outbreak during the upcoming season.
What impact that has on the state cup competitions remains to be seen, yet rightfully so, has been met with concern from the reserve grade clubs.
Abdo said the current daily testing protocols and seven-day isolation period for Covid-positive players would remain for the start of the season, when outlining the measures the game was taking to minimise the risk of matches being postponed or cancelled.
“I think everyone is in a good spot at the moment,” Abdo said.
“I saw all the captains (on Thursday) and thanked them for their efforts and we spoke about the collective discipline of everyone, regardless of what the protocols are.
“The teams that do that, are the ones that are going to have the depth and are going to be in the top eight come finals time.
“If you consider the public health rules, it’s very difficult to create a bubble now.
“It comes down to two things for us.
“One, is that rapid testing is key because if someone does test positive we‘re testing them positive prior to them having an interaction with the broader group.
“That’s key to preventing a mass outbreak at any club.
“The second is, the depth that we’ve created. We’re flying bigger squads to games this year, in case there is a positive.
“The players are in single rooms not double rooms and we’ve created an ability for state cup player to move in and out of the system.’’
On what is the final weekend before the 2022 season begins, nervous club CEOs and coaches spent last Friday pleading with their players to remain cautious against infection.
“As professional athletes, they want to play every week so we expect they would be doing everything in their power to make sure they’re making themselves available for selection and they’re not putting themselves at risk,’’ Wests Tigers CEO Justin Pascoe said.
“We‘re also educating them all the time and that next step in that education process for us is, receiving their booster shots.’’
Abdo said the game would only reassess the current protocols, if respective state government regulations changed, the competition was no longer at risk of mass outbreaks, or a danger of needing to postpone or cancel matches arises.
“There will be nervous coaches and nervous teams, but I’m sure they will be saying to their players, be reasonable,’’ Abdo said.
“Don’t take undue risk, avoid areas where you know there could be a hard transmission.
“Of course you’re going to have some teams lose key players at inopportune times, but that’s going to be part of the challenge of this season.’’
More Coverage
Originally published as Locker Room: NRL coaches fear becoming ‘story of the year’ as Covid losses threaten season
Join the conversation
Buzz’s top-50 NRL players for 2024: Four millionaires miss the cut
Phil Rothfield’s Top 50 NRL players for 2024 is littered with the game’s highest paid players, but four million-dollar men from the Rich 100 failed to make the cut. See the full Top 50 and have your say.
Read more
What Seibold’s revival says about ‘cursed’ Broncos coaching role
“It’s you not us’’ was the cry when Anthony Seibold was effectively shown the door in Brisbane. Maybe, ROBERT CRADDOCK writes, it was the Broncos all along.
Read more