NRL 2022: Jason Taumalolo Covid vaccination a $10m headache for Cowboys

Jason Taumalolo’s Covid vaccination status is certainly causing headaches at the Cowboys, but could a recent holiday be at the centre of his hesitancy at inoculation?

Jason Taumalolo’s playing future is in limbo with North Queensland’s $1 million superstar the biggest-name NRL player yet to receive the Covid vaccination.

News Corp can reveal Taumalolo — North Queensland’s $10 million man and best player — is the only Cowboy yet to agree to the first of two Covid shots just a week out from his planned return to pre-season training.

The revelation comes as NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo appealed for the code’s players to follow government Covid guidelines and get vaccinated – or face being frozen out of the game.

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There is a view Taumalolo has not placed a high priority on vaccination as he has been holidaying in the Northern Territory.

It is understood 15 players across the NRL’s 480 contracted full-timers remain unvaccinated, including Melbourne’s Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Gold Coast’s Brian Kelly and Manly’s Dylan Walker.

But the highest-profile player baulking at Covid inoculation is Taumalolo, triggering high-level discussions among Cowboys powerbrokers about if, and when, the former Dally M Medallist will adhere to the Queensland government’s vaccination guidelines.

Should Taumalolo refuse to be vaccinated, he would be unable to train or play at the three Queensland government-owned stadiums, including Suncorp Stadium, Cbus Super Stadium and the Cowboys’ new $290 million home ground in Townsville.

Can the Cowboys convince Jason Taumalolo. Picture: Evan Morgan

There is no suggestion the Cowboys would rip up Taumalolo’s 10-year, $1 million-a-season contract, but under a proposal tabled by the Rugby League Players Association, North Queensland would have a number of options at their disposal.

The most extreme option is dismissal, although another alternative would include Taumalolo being placed on the Cowboys’ inactive list on 25 per cent of his salary, which equates to $250,000 next season.

News Corp understands Taumalolo and Queensland under-20s winger Murray Taulagi were the only two Cowboys players yet to receive the first Covid shot at the start of the week.

Taulagi has since agreed to the injection in the last 24 hours, leaving Taumalolo as the odd man out at the Cowboys.

Pre-season training starts within the fortnight. Picture: Evan Morgan

Parties close to Taumalolo have spoken to the Cowboys forward in the past fortnight, stressing the importance of Covid vaccination.

There is a view that Taumalolo, rather than rebelling against the government’s Covid requirements, has not placed a high priority on vaccination as he has been holidaying in the Northern Territory.

Cowboys head-of-football Micheal Luck declined to specifically discuss Taumalolo’s Covid status, but is confident the club will emulate the Broncos and be fully vaccinated.

“I don’t want to comment on specific players, but we don’t have any concerns,” Luck said.

“It’s pretty straight forward now that the Queensland government has put out the rules that they have a couple of days ago.

“We are looking forward to getting everyone back into stadiums and not having to worry about the Covid rules we had to abide by last year.”

“It will be difficult to enter a state government-run venue if you aren’t vaccinated.

“Suncorp, Cbus and Queensland Country Bank are all Stadiums Queensland venues. It makes for a safe environment and people can come to the football worry free about their health.

“There’s the guys who are single vaccinated waiting for their second shot who must still wear masks, they are in the bubble restrictions outside of training.

“In our facility, they use different bathrooms and eat in a separate area, but otherwise it’s business as usual.”

The risk of Taumalolo missing games would be a disaster for a Cowboys side under pressure to hit back next season after four consecutive bottom-four campaigns.

D-Day is also arriving for Asofa-Solomona. It is understood he must have his first Covid shot by Monday to ensure he will have time to be dually vaccinated – or risk being banned from Storm pre-season.

Abdo said the last thing he wanted was to see high-profile players miss games, although he also stressed it was an individual decision for them to decide whether to be vaccinated.

“We want to create an environment where if possible everyone is vaccinated,” Abdo said.

“The second thing is we are not making it mandatory so if you are not vaccinated, we will have to work within the public health orders, and within what is safe. That is changing all the time. I think this is going to evolve.

“Clearly we want the best players playing but we have to adhere to the health orders and we also have to do what is right for the safety of our rugby league community and the teams involved to keep games going.

Murray Taulagi has agreed to get vaccinated. Picture: Ian Hitchcock/Getty

“What we are seeing every day now is the number of players who are hesitant coming down. What we are seeing is more players comfortable with it. We don’t want to see them miss games but that is going to be a decision for them to make.”

Asked whether he would be happy to speak to any players with concerns, Abdo said: “I genuinely am always happy to engage and get feedback from players on any matter. That may not impact the policy.”

It is understood the NRL has been working on their own contract guidelines for clubs dealing with players who could potentially miss games by being unvaccinated.

The players union and a cohort of clubs produced their own draft proposal this week that could hand clubs the power to terminate contracts or dock pay of unvaccinated players.

Fully-vaxxed NRL clubs grow

– David Riccio and Brent Read

South Sydney and Parramatta have become the latest NRL clubs to record completely vaccinated playing rosters.

The major milestone has emerged in the wake of Newcastle recording a fully-vaccinated squad last weekend.

Both the Rabbitohs and Eels top-30 playing rosters have received at least one jab with players from both clubs either in the process of having, or have had, their second inoculation.

Souths platers are scheduled to be fully vaccinated by the end of November.

Both squads are scheduled to be fully vaccinated by the end of this month.

Every other club has at least one player, or as many as four players, yet to receive their first jab.

On Tuesday, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo has staunchly defended the code’s decision not to make vaccination mandatory, but rather to instead promote the benefits for vaccinated players.

The positive position of the Rabbitohs, Eels and Knights suggests the NRL are gradually achieving their end goal of a largely vaccinated competition.

Abdo added on Tuesday that there were no more than 24 players who had yet to receive their first jab.

The green tick for vaccination of the three clubs is timely given the backdrop of uncertainty at other clubs and, of which, has led to the players union discussing what powers have over the contracts of unvaccinated players.

Parramatta have got the green tick of vaccination.

As first reported by News Corp, unvaccinated players could be given eight weeks to get the jab or face the sack under a “last resort” proposal that has been hatched by the players union and a cohort of club bosses.

The plan, which was shared with chief executives on Tuesday as part of a discussion paper, also gives clubs the option to place unvaccinated players on an inactive list for the entire season and pay them a fraction of their salary.

The players union and a select group of club chief executives have been locked in talks for several weeks as they attempt to find a uniform way to deal with unvaccinated players. The draft discussion paper is the result of those talks.

The most significant power for clubs would be the ability to terminate the contract of players for refusal to be vaccinated, although the Rugby League Players Association insists the power must only be involved as a “last resort”.

One club with a major issue is the Melbourne Storm with anti-vax forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona.

Storm CEO Justin Rodski said Asofa-Solomona‘s position was heading towards D-Day.

Storm forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona is among the players yet to be vaccinated.

“I’m really hopeful that he does and he’s able to return to training on December 7,’’ Rodski said.

“He has this week to make that decision and then it starts to impact his pre-season and his training.

“In saying that if he doesn‘t make the decision this week, there are still avenues for him to return to training and to playing next year.

“We‘re working through what that looks like.

“I’m certainly respectful of his position, but at some point it’s going to reach a juncture.’’