NRL to get tough on biosecurity breaches

The NRL will hold crucial talks with clubs and players as they prepare to introduce heavy sanctions for breaches of biosecurity measures.

NSW Origin and South Sydney Rabbitohs hooker Damien Cook Picture: Justin Lloyd

The NRL will hold crucial talks with clubs and players in coming days as they prepare to introduce heavy sanctions for breaches of biosecurity measures designed to get the game running by May 28.

Former deputy premier Troy Grant — part of the Project Apollo team — presented his biosecurity report to the ARL Commission on Tuesday ahead of further meetings throughout the day on Wednesday.

While that report did not specify sanctions for breaches of the guidelines — that falls under the remit of chief operating officer Nick Weeks — ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys confirmed they were on the radar and would be thrashed out with players and clubs this week.

It is understood the players union has acknowledged that deterrents are a necessary evil in the current environment, when one misstep could mean the competition is suspended and broadcast money is lost.

Under the existing rules, the game has the power to fine, suspend or deregister players for breaches. They also have the capacity to come down hard on the clubs — they could even be docked points if they are found to be culpable in breaches of the biosecurity guidelines.

That scenario can’t be ruled out given what is at stake when the NRL resumes on May 28. V’landys made it clear that the game would frown on any player or club who put the NRL’s return at risk. He has already shown he has little regard for those who push the boundaries in his role as chief executive of Racing NSW – leading jockey Tom Marquand was recently fined $2000 after his post-race embrace of a stablehand following his win in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Stablehand Safid Alam was slugged with a $500 fine.

“There will certainly be sanctions but we want to consult the clubs first because you want to make sure that someone’s reckless behaviour doesn’t bring the whole competition down,” V’landys said. “So there has to be sanctions. The game’s future is on the line here. If anyone wants to risk that, they will be penalised.”

A series of meetings on Wednesday will hopefully go some way towards clarifying lingering concerns around the season structure and the game’s finances.

V’landys is expected to hold further talks with Nine Network chief executive Hugh Marks — it is understood he talked to Foxtel boss Patrick Delany on Tuesday.

The broadcasting talks are crucial in finalising the length of the season and the amount of money the game will have to play with over coming months.

There has been frenzied debate over the likely finishing point for the season, but The Australian understands there remains a distinct chance that the current grand final date — October 4 — will remain in place.

State of Origin would then be played after the grand final, allowing the competition to come to an end before the start of November. However, should the game stick to the existing grand final date that would mean the regular season would be around the 17-game mark, although the NRL could attempt to squeeze some more games in to appease clubs who feel including the two games already played would leave them at a disadvantage.

Grant, meanwhile, will share his research with the clubs and players on Wednesday. The final measures are expected to be put together by the executive team before being shared with the clubs by the end of the week.

The game’s operational manual already considers some measures to combat the handling of infectious diseases but clubs will be required to adhere to more stringent measures to ensure the game is not interrupted by an outbreak of coronavirus.

Millions of dollars are at stake and the players will be presented with both the carrot and the stick to ensure they follow the guidelines. The carrot will be in the form of a bump in their pay packet should the game remain on the park. The stick will be the sanctions that will hang over their heads should they disobey the guidelines and go rogue.