NRL 2022: Melbourne Storm confront Nelson Asofa-Solomona dilemma
Melbourne is one of several clubs dealing with the issue of vaccine-hesitant players, and there is no manual on how to tackle the problem.
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Unvaccinated Melbourne Storm star Nelson Asofa-Solomona is in danger of missing his return date for pre-season training, but the NRL club is far from ready to slam the door shut on his 2022 campaign.
The New Zealand international, who is back in Melbourne and contracted until 2023, must be double jabbed to enter AAMI Park under Victorian government guidelines despite the NRL’s decision to not follow the AFL and mandate Covid vaccines for players.
Storm would love him back on his scheduled return date of December 7, although that will not be seen as a deadline for him to play in 2022.
It is also believed to not be uncommon for players to miss the start of pre-season training due to a variety of factors.
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Storm bosses in chairman Matt Tripp and chief executive Justin Rodski will work on resolving the Asofa-Solomona situation while the football department focuses on pre-season training.
“Nelson is a big part of our team and we know he wants to play with the Storm and we want him to play for the Storm,” Storm football boss Frank Ponissi said.
“So at the moment it’s just a time thing, so we’ll just have to see what develops.
“He’s a big part of our team and really important to us, both as a player and a person because he’s been at our club a long time.
“We just have to be patient and see how it all unfolds … we’d love to have him back but we appreciate there’s a bit of work to do and we have to be respectful of the process.”
Storm is not the only NRL club grappling with the issue of vaccine-hesitant players, while Carlton AFL star Liam Jones this week retired due to his refusal to receive the jab.
“This is total foreign territory to us,” Ponissi said.
“It’s not like there is a manual or we can draw on experience because it’s completely foreign territory, so when you’ve got something new like this there is always a degree of uncertainty.
“While it’s only a small group, there are other players at other clubs so it’s not just a Melbourne Storm issue.”
Unvaxxed, unavailable: The crucial games Koroisau would miss
By Dean Ritchie
Penrith grand final hooker Api Koroisau was formally told of the “consequences and implications” of refusing to be vaccinated during a key meeting with club officials on Wednesday.
While Penrith has not given Koroisau an ultimatum, Panthers management is aware the gun dummy half would miss four games next season if he failed to be immunised.
Yet when asked if his club would consider sacking Koroisau should he refuse a vaccination, Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher said: “Never.”
Koroisau will return from holidays in mid-December where he will be expected to give Penrith an answer on his Covid vaccination status.
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Penrith players aren’t pressuring Koroisau but are talking among themselves about the inconvenience his anti-vax stance could have on the playing group next season.
Wednesday’s meeting included Koroisau, Fletcher, club high performance manager Matt Cameron and welfare and education co-ordinator, Kevin Kingston.
All clubs have been issued with protocol statements from the NRL indicating the benefits and disadvantages of players being jabbed or remaining unvaccinated.
Those guidelines — and implications — were presented to Koroisau at the meeting.
Should he object to an inoculation, Koroisau would miss four games: round 8 vs Titans at Cbus Stadium; round 10 vs Melbourne at Suncorp Stadium (Magic Round); round 15 vs Warriors at Mt Smart Stadium and round 25 vs Cowboys at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.
“We had a good conversation and explained our side, which we have to do,” Fletcher said. “Api understands all the implications of vaccination and non-vaccination.
“He doesn’t come back to training until December 15 so he will take it all in and decide what he will do in the future. We just explained what we had to explain on behalf of the NRL and the RLPA.
“It will be his decision. It’s not our decision to tell him to get vaccinated but we just wanted him to understand all the consequences, which he has now taken away to comprehend. Api has had some medical history with it.
“He will get advice on that and get back to us within the month and we’ll go from there. We’ve done our part. It’s a process.”
The Panthers know Koroisau would be fined for missing those games but are more concerned about the impact his absence would have on the team.
One of those four games is a late-season game against the Warriors in Auckland, the club’s first game back in New Zealand in more than two years.
Penrith is taking a measured approach to the situation at present but know the Koroisau issue will eventually, as one source put it, “come to a head.”
“It’s OK to fine Api but we have to think about the rest of the team, playing four games a year without the club’s number one dummy half.”
Several clubs still believe the NRL will come forward before Christmas to announce a more stringent vaccination policy.
Unvaccinated players cannot play games in Queensland or Victoria with clubs also anticipating restrictions of flights, stadiums and hotels.
Koroisau, 29, comes off contract after next season.
NO JAB, NEW JOB: UNVAXXED ASIATA EYES CAREER CHANGE
Canterbury recruit John Asiata has told Bulldogs management he would prefer working on a construction site rather than be forced into a Covid vaccination to play rugby league.
Unless Canterbury general manager of football, Phil Gould, can this week persuade Asiata into a jab, the new Bulldogs forward faces being sacked before he has even trained at his new club.
It could also end his NRL career.
And News Corp can also reveal Panthers CEO Brian Fletcher has called hooker Api Koroisau — another player yet to be inoculated — to a top-level meeting on Wednesday.
Bulldogs management has told Asiata he will be dumped by remaining unvaccinated.
The club is aware of the major dramas an unimmunised player will cause through tough Covid laws in Victoria and Queensland along with airline, stadium and hotel restrictions.
Gould and Asiata have already spoken about the issue, the player not claiming to be an anti-vaxxer, more having a mistrust and anxiety about the significant side effects vaccination jabs caused family and friends back in Tonga.
Asiata, who signed a one-year deal with Canterbury worth nearly $200,000, even told Gould he would be prepared to work on a building site if pushed out of rugby league, despite that vocation also requiring a Covid jab.
Still hoping John gets a vaccination. I’d like to have him play for us. But if that’s not to be, we will look at our options. https://t.co/U9aG9tMejr
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) November 14, 2021
Gould will this week try again to remind Asiata, 28, of the incredible benefits of playing NRL. Another NRL club may look to sign Asiata if offloaded by Canterbury.
“Still hoping John gets a vaccination. I’d like to have him play for us. But if that’s not to be, we will look at our options,” Gould tweeted on Sunday.
Asiata is due to attend his first training session with Canterbury within the next fortnight. Teammate Luke Thompson has been vaccinated after initially resisting.
Clubs are anticipating the NRL will release a more formal vaccination policy in coming weeks.
Koroisau also remains unvaccinated, a decision which will be discussed this week at a meeting with Fletcher and Panthers high performance manager, Matt Cameron.
“We will meet with Api on Wednesday to go through the steps of the vaccination process,” Fletcher said. “We want to make sure it’s all been explained properly.
“We will then come to a consensus at the end of that. We don’t have any idea at this stage what the end result will be.”
Asked would Koroisau face being sacked by refusing an injection, Fletcher said: “No. That has never even been thought of.”
In a significant boost for the NRL, North Queensland superstar Jason Taumalolo appears ready to be jabbed.
Cowboys officials have been told second-hand that Taumalolo has agreed to a vaccination and be ready for off-season training.
Manly’s Dylan Walker also remains unvaccinated.
Sea Eagles officials won’t comment publicly but there is a growing feeling that Walker — currently off contract — will need to be jabbed to be eligible for his new $350,000 a season contract extension.
Melbourne prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona is yet to be talked into receiving a Covid injection.
“We are hopeful, naturally,” said Storm executive chairman Matt Tripp. “We will be supporting Nelson as best we can, maybe that means trying for an exemption. We will exhaust all avenues before having to do anything rash because Nelson is a key part of our team.
“I respect his opinion on this particular matter and I hope we can find an area that suits all parties, sooner rather than later, naturally. As it stands at the moment, there are ongoing discussions.”
Asofa-Solomona is due back to training in early December.
15 players put their 2022 season at risk
— David Riccio
These are the clubs with 15 unvaccinated players who have more than a combined $6 million to lose.
The numbers illustrate the difficult decision, both personal and financial, for unvaccinated NRL players.
From a total of 480 players with an NRL contract, only 3.1 per cent remain either waiting, or avoiding, their first jab.
Reasons for their current anti-vax status differ for each case.
Side-effects from previous inoculations, apprehension from family, wives or partners, a player’s cultural beliefs, or simply bravado are all factors.
At this stage, only two of the 15 have applied for medical exemption.
A lack of information or expert advice can’t be used as an excuse by the 15 with every club’s medical team and welfare officers working one-on-one with each player to provide them with both support and the latest of detailed vaccination information.
Either way, time is ticking for some of the biggest names in the game, including Jason Taumalolo, Api Koroisau, Josh Papalii and Dylan Walker.
The Raiders are in a precarious position with four of their elite stars unvaccinated – two of which are Test prop Josh Papalii and representative backrower Joseph Tapine.
Some of the 15 names on the list have already been revealed publicly while others have been withheld from this column because they‘re yet to declare their position outside of informing their club.
The players are less than a month away from an NRL proposal that their salaries be docked by as much as 20 per cent – which will also be deducted from their respective club’s salary cap.
That’s the leading item on a paper being drawn-up by the NRL which will be presented to the ARL Commission in December.
A 20 per cent deduction of a player‘s salary – which would also be removed from their respective club’s salary cap – is being discussed as a starting point.
It would mean Koroisau, who continues to oppose being inoculated, faces a loss of $95,000 from his $475,000 salary.
Taumalolo, who it must be stated has told those closest to him that despite his reticence, is now leaning towards getting a jab, is risking $200,000.
The termination of a player’s contract – if he is unable to train, travel interstate or play under the health orders of their respective state – remains a real and likely prospect.
Some football clubs, who survive from the financial coffers of their leagues club or affiliated clubs, like the Panthers, Sharks and Bulldogs, are preparing to mandate vaccination on their own accord.
The boards of each club believe it would be negligible to ask patrons to show a vaccination passport to enter their leagues club, yet their star footballers without a vaccination are free to train and play, in some cases, directly across the road.
In simple terms, it’s a case of, get the jab or get the sack, for those three clubs.
Such is the case, Canterbury recruit John Asiata has already told Bulldogs officials to plan without him in 2022.
The Dogs, given their delicate salary cap juggle, haven’t needed to be told twice by Asiata to wait – already shifting the forward’s $180,000 contract on their spreadsheet into another column for another player.
Alternatively, it gives reason why English prop-forward Luke Thompson, widely-known as an anti-vaxxer, is understood to have received his first jab – de-risking his $725,000 contract.
Down in Melbourne, devastating ball-runner Nelson Asofa-Solomona remains dead-against being vaccinated.
Unless he performs a stunning backflip, he will miss his return to training date of December 7 – and most likely, a financial hit to his $675,000 contract.
The RLPA are desperate to convince clubs that the termination of a players contract should be considered a last resort.
However, the NRL are content to let club‘s govern their own individual employment contracts.
With fewer anti-vaxxers to fill a football team, the 15 remaining will come as a surprise to many fans and casual observers of the NRL‘s polarising decision to resist making vaccination mandatory.
The opposing view from clubland is, even one unvaccinated player, is enough to cause wide reaching impact to a club‘s preparation, roster and salary cap.
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Originally published as NRL 2022: Melbourne Storm confront Nelson Asofa-Solomona dilemma
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