NRL forced to act with families left home as Queensland government demanded a plan

The NRL says it is on track to get families to Queensland as the state government demands a plan.

Penrith players and officials on the Sunshine Coast as they set up in Queensland hubs after a large Covid outbreak in Sydney. Picture: Lachie Millard.

South Sydney held a 90-minute zoom call with disappointed families on Friday afternoon.

“The families are understandably concerned,” Rabbitohs chief executive Blake Solly said.

“For example, since our State of Origin players went in their bubble it has been nine days and now it could be anywhere up to four or five weeks before they see their families.

“That is clearly something the clubs, the NRL and the Queensland government have to resolve as soon as they possibly can.”

The Rabbitohs have been among the worst hit by the Queensland government’s decision on Thursday night to lock out families. Benji Marshall was due to catch a flight to Queensland with his wife Zoe and their new daughter on Saturday.

Those plans were shelved when the Queensland government demanded more information from both the NRL and families. For the time being, Marshall is marooned in Sydney and likely to stay there until his wife and children are cleared to join him in Queensland.

When he does fly north, he will be forced to enter a two-week quarantine. Marshall will miss at least three, maybe four games.

St George Illawarra was also affected after Zac Lomax and Daniel Alvaro — the two players who declined to sign a statement relating to their involvement in the house party of former teammate Paul Vaughan — were also due to fly to Queensland on Saturday.

Instead, they too are waiting for the NRL to resolve the issue. The NRL remains confident it will do so within days but there is work to do if the comments of Queensland’s chief heath officer Jeannette Young are anything to go by.

On Friday morning, she called for more information to warrant providing the NRL with an exemption to fly the families north.

“I just need a plan from them,” Young said.

“I don’t even have a plan as to which hotel they will use. I just need a plan, which hotel, how it will be managed. I need all the staff in that hotel vaccinated.

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“I need all of that work done and they just haven’t had a chance to do any of that. Once they have done all that and I have had the opportunity to make sure that the plan meets all my very, very strict requirements, then we can work together to sort it out.

“So no, they have not been told that the families cannot come to Queensland but we do need a proper plan and that plan needs to ensure that no Queenslander is at risk and also that the Queensland taxpayer doesn’t pay for any of the costs associated with it.”

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo remains bullish and the families were asked to play their part on Friday after a request was made to provide extra details.

They were asked to confirm they had not been identified as a close or casual contact and that they would continue to monitor the identified exposure venues for the 14 days they are in quarantine in Queensland.

They were asked their special needs and dietary needs. They don’t want questions at the moment. The only thing they want is answers.

“We’re very confident that families will be relocated to the Gold Coast as soon as possible,” Abdo said.

“The Queensland government have been great to work with and we respect that they wanted to see further information to ensure the safety of their community.

“Families from the Storm, Knights and Raiders have been relocated to the Gold Coast and I expect families from Sydney clubs will only be a few days later.”

While Abdo remains confident about the NRL’s ability to satiate the demands of the Queensland government, the clubs have been left to appease those affected.

“It was a bit difficult last night, obviously telling the players and the players having to tell their families,” Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson said.

“There is lots of different stories. People have had to ask for time off work. Partners are pregnant and whether they are going to come up or not, in early pregnancy, late pregnancy, there is lots of different stories.

“There is just all individual stories. We just have to deal with it.”

Canberra has been one of the lucky ones. The Raiders and Newcastle have been able to send families north because they are not in a red zone.

“It‘s no different to everyone else in life, everyone needs their family there,” said skipper Jarrod Croker said.

“You guys need your family as much as we do. It’s not just footballers who need their family, it is everyone in general.”