NRL star Nelson Asofa-Solomona doubles down on Covid-19 vaccination stance

Nelson Asofa-Solomona appears unlikely to join his Melbourne Storm teammates at pre-season training from next month.

Asofa-Solomona has played his entire career to date with the Storm. Picture: Darrian Traynor / Getty Images

Nelson Asofa-Solomona looks unlikely to join the Melbourne Storm for pre-season training from December after doubling down on his vaccination stance on Thursday.

The towering Kiwi prop made headlines last week with news he was reluctant to become vaccinated against Covid-19.

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While the NRL has chosen not to instigate a league-wide vaccine mandate, Storm CEO Justin Rodski conceded there would be “significant implications” for Asofa-Solomona if he remained unvaccinated.

Specifically, Asofa-Solomona would not be able to attend pre-season training from December 7, nor play Storm home games once the season commenced due to the Victorian Government’s health orders.

Last month, the Daniel Andrews government announced that all essential workers, including professional athletes, must have had two shots of a Covid-19 vaccine by November 26 in order to work in Victoria.

While the Storm had been hopeful Asofa-Solomona would reconsider his vaccination stance, the 25-year-old made a social media post on Thursday that suggested his mind was made up.

“Front line nurses speaking out. Ask the question, why are they willing to lose their job to not get the juice? What are they seeing that we don’t see,” Asofa-Solomona posted on his Instagram story.

His post was accompanied by a link to a video of South Australian healthcare workers protesting SA Heath’s decision to make unvaccinated healthcare workers take leave.

Asofa-Solomona posted to Instagram on Thursday. Image: Instagram

Asofa-Solomona would need to have had his first shot of a Covid-19 vaccination by early next week at the latest if he was to return to pre-season training with the rest of his teammates, given patients must wait three to six weeks between doses.

If he chooses not to become vaccinated, Asofa-Solomona faces the possibility of being stood down from his NRL duties, despite having two years to run on his contract, estimated to be worth around $675,000 per season.

“Clearly there could be implications for the club if we do have an unvaccinated player,” Rodski said last week.

“They won’t be able to train and therefore won’t be able to fulfil their contract, which clearly has significant implications on our club and on a player that’s being paid a lot of money.

“We want them to come and do a proper pre-season so that they’re ready to play.”

NCA NewsWire has contacted the Rugby League Players Association (RLPA) for comment.

Asofa-Solomona can’t enter the Storm’s training facilities until he is double-vaccinated. Picture: Cameron Spencer / Getty Images