Storm’s Origin stars cleared to fly despite Covid scare

Melbourne’s Origin stars have flown north after being delayed by a Covid scare involving two Sydney Roosters players.

Queensland prop Christian Welch has displayed flu-like symptoms, prompting the Storm’s Origin stars to stay put for now. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Melbourne Storm’s Origin players have been cleared to fly out of Melbourne despite a Covid-19 scare.

The Storm’s Origin contingent – Christian Welch, Cameron Munster, Josh Addo-Carr, Felise Kaufusi, Nicho Hynes and Dale Finucane – were set to fly north on Monday night.

These plans were temporarily halted as the league awaited negative Covid-19 tests from two Sydney Roosters players.

Roosters youngsters Fletcher Baker and Brad Abbey had been identified as having visited Covid-19 exposure sites only days after playing Melbourne in round 16.

To further complicate matters, Welch also displayed flu-like symptoms as he was set to board the charter flight on Monday night.

As a result, the Storm’s six Origin players were grounded in Melbourne until Baker and Abbey returned negative Covid results.

Abbey returned a negative result on Tuesday morning after Baker was cleared on Monday night, paving the way for the Storm’s Origin contingent to board a charter flight to the Gold Coast on Tuesday morning.