Wests Tigers players and staff sent for Covid tests

Hours of fraught negotiations with the Queensland government on Thursday ended with the NRL being given the green light to continue apace.

David Nofoaluma is among the Wests Tigers players sent for a COVID-19 test.

The day from hell was how one NRL official described it. Hours of fraught negotiations with the Queensland government on Thursday ended with the code being given the green light to continue apace, albeit with the clamp- down on biosecurity protocols extending to north of the border.

Late on Thursday, the NRL finally received an exemption from the Queensland government that removed the need for the four teams based in the state to move to NSW.

The alternative would have been the quartet to move to Queensland’s Sunshine Coast and be housed in lockdown at Twin Waters Resort, where the Melbourne Storm have been based since moving out of Victoria.

As ARL Commission chair Peter V’landys and NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo were immersed in the latest bid to save the season, five players and officials from Wests Tigers and two from Penrith were undergoing tests for COVID-19 to help assuage the concerns of the Queensland government.

As many as 19 players and officials across the code are believed to live in the areas in western Sydney that have been identified as COVID-19 hot spots by the Queensland government.

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In order to protect their state, the Queensland government had insisted that anyone who came into contact with someone from one of the designated areas would be forced to quarantine for 14 days on their return to the state.

That would have immediately affected the Broncos, who play against the Wests Tigers at Leichhardt Oval on Friday night. Tigers pair David Nofoaluma and Josh Aloiai live in the designated postcodes and were sent for tests on Thursday morning. So too assistant coaches Brett Hodgson and Simon Dwyer, and development player Zac Cini.

It is understood Penrith assistant coach Cameron Ciraldo and top-30 squad member Lindsay Smith were also required to undergo tests on Thursday – the Panthers are due to play against North Queensland in Sydney this weekend.

The NRL and those concerned were awaiting the results of the testing on Thursday night but there were few fears that the players or officials would return a positive result.

They had shown no symptoms and were only tested as a precaution in a move designed to ease some of the concerns of the Queensland government.

The NRL had already tightened the protocols around players in NSW in response to the rash of positive cases in Victoria and subsequent outbreaks in the Liverpool and Campbelltown areas. Those rules have now been invoked in Queensland, meaning players must avoid cafes and the like. They must also limit visitors to their households.

“We got there in the end, that’s all that matters,” V’landys said.

“They are back to the old protocols except for a couple of extra conditions. They have to go back to the old protocols, which is probably a sensible thing to do anyway.’’

Earlier on Thursday, Tigers coach Michael Maguire had revealed that Nofoaluma and Aloiai were among the group that underwent testing on Thursday morning, the pair both living in areas that have been identified as COVID-19 hotspots by the Queensland government.

“Not every player in every hotspot has to be tested,” Abdo said.
“Testing is just another way of us proactively making sure that we are monitoring risk and managing risk in the key areas. It is not a requirement. We are not going to be testing every player in every hotspot. There were just a few key areas where we wanted to be cautious this weekend.

“It is complex. You’re dealing with biosecurity experts and state policy. It is complicated. We are not out of the woods yet. I just hope we have it under control.”

The Tigers are confident that Nofoaluma and Aloiai will be cleared to play on Friday night. The alternative doesn’t bear thought.

“They’re following protocols and have gone straight to testing,” Maguire said.

“Once we heard that we needed to get tested, they jumped in the cars and went. We’ll get the results back on that pretty soon. I’m sure those sorts of things will continue to happen (across the game) for a period of time.