Covid limits on grand final celebrations

Players will be forced to choose between loved ones on the biggest night of their careers.

Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy and captain Cameron Smith address the media on Thursday Picture: Getty Images

COVID-19 is set to make life hell for rugby league to the bitter end, forcing players in Sunday night’s grand final to prioritise family members after the NRL deemed there would be strict limits on the number of people allowed in each dressing room after the game.

The select few who are given the green light will also be forced to undergo COVID testing on Friday afternoon before they are cleared to enter the sheds, either to celebrate or commiserate.

Penrith and Melbourne have been told that aside from the people they have in their biosecurity bubble, a further 46 guests will be allowed into the inner sanctum.

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It means players will be forced to choose between loved ones on the biggest night of their careers, another remnant of the COVID-19 crisis that threatened to end the season only weeks after it had begun.

Penrith officials are planning to set up a testing booth at the club’s academy as they look to have family members tested on Friday afternoon

“Everybody that has permission to go into the dressing room has to have a COVID test and get a negative result back by Sunday and they will be right to go,” Penrith chief executive Brian Fletcher.

“Each player has two family members. People who want to go in have to do what needs to be done. It is nothing out of the ordinary these days.”

While the COVID crisis has made life a misery for many, there is also a sense that it has played into Penrith’s hands heading into ANZ Stadium on Sunday night.

The Panthers are giving away oodles of grand final experience but the chances of players being overwhelmed during the week has been reduced because so many of the traditional grand final week festivities have been cancelled.

One of the few surviving events was the grand final press conference, although it was held across two states on Thursday afternoon. Penrith coach Ivan Cleary was at ANZ Stadium while his Melbourne counterpart Craig Bellamy was grilled simultaneously on Queensland’s Sunshine Coast.

The Storm won’t arrive in Sydney until Saturday but they – or at least their captain Cameron Smith – are at the forefront of Cleary’s mind as he prepares for the decider.

“The main thing I think with Cameron is if we give the Storm enough opportunities and time in good field position, he is good enough to be able to work out what to do from there,” Cleary said.
“That is probably the biggest fear for me – with the great players you just don’t know what they are going to do necessarily.

“There are some things we have obviously planned for but that is their whole team. It is more so just the big moments where the great players seem to come up with the best plays.

“The main thing for us is making sure we don’t give him enough opportunities. Hence it goes back to our planning and our preparation.

“If we play our game to what we like or somewhere near that, it is going to limit anyone in the Storm.”

Smith, whose future has been one of the talking points of grand final week, insisted he was yet to make up his mind on retirement.

“I‘ve spoken to a few of my ex-teammates that have now retired and they told me it was just one day they woke up and, in their mind, they didn’t want to do it anymore,” Smith said.

“That was the reason they knew it was time to finish up. I haven‘t had that feeling yet. There’s lots of things to consider, outside of just how I feel and whether I think I can play on.

“After this game, I‘ll do some thinking and make a decision.“

While the Panthers are wary of Smith, the Storm are no doubt on alert for the return of blockbusting Penrith back rower Viliame Kikau. The giant Fijian missed last week’s win over South Sydney but returns from suspension with a point to prove to his teammates.

“One thing about Kiks is that he is not overly emotional,” Cleary said.
“After the siren last week he was visibly upbeat and he feels like he owes the boys. He has shown good signs throughout the week.

“He was asking when he could start training after the game which was unusual for Kiks.”

Captain James Tamou added: “We have seen what he can do on the field – he is a bit of a game-breaker.

“We have seen on how he wants to pay back the team, even defensively he can do that. Kiks can just about change a game. It will be good having him on that left edge.”