Waiver changed to allow anti-vaccination players to train without flu shot
The ARL Commission will revise a clause in their waiver form to allow players who don’t vaccinate to play.
The ARL Commission will revise a clause in their waiver form to allow players who don’t vaccinate to play when the NRL season resumes on May 28.
A handful of rugby league players had refused to have flu shots, and then declined to sign a waiver that would have allowed them to resume under the game’s current protocols.
The ARL Commission discussed the issue on Thursday afternoon and chair Peter V’landys confirmed they would make a slight alteration to the waiver to allow players to return to training.
However, any player who elects not to sign the altered waiver will be banned for the season.
“The is only one clause in there we are going to change because of their religious grounds, which we have no problem with,” V’landys said.
“We will change that clause but anyone who doesn’t sign the waiver, will not be allowed to play.”
Gold Coast forward Bryce Cartwright was the highest-profile figure to make a stand on vaccinations, hitting out at critics of his stance as it emerged up to three Canberra players had missed training on Wednesday over an issue that is fast dividing the game.
Cartwright has become the face of the vaccination debate, with his wife Shanelle taking to social media early on Wednesday to defend her husband’s stance. Cartwright himself followed up on Wednesday night with a compelling articulation of his position, having earlier been the subject of comment from the highest office in the land.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison was among those to suggest players shouldn’t be allowed to play unless they received a flu shot. Canberra pair Sia Soliola and Josh Papalii missed training in the nation’s capital on Wednesday, apparently because they refused to sign a waiver.
Cartwright insisted he wouldn’t be bullied into making a decision that had the potential to impact on the health of himself and his family.
“Not once have I said I am anti-vaccinations,” he wrote on social media.
“I’ve never claimed to be a doctor or a medical professional and I have never told anyone what they should or shouldn’t do in regards to vaccinations.
“I stand for the freedom to choose what goes into our bodies, I am pro-choice, pro-informed consent and pro-medical freedom.
“I have nothing against people who choose to vaccinate … so to label me an ‘anti-vaxxer’ is spreading misinformation.
“The flu shot is not mandatory in the NRL at the moment. Players have been offered a waiver to sign if we don’t want it.
“Giving us the ultimatum of get the shot or be stood down is coercion, and leaking private medical information, well that’s illegal.
“As for me being the first and apparently only one declining the shot is bullshit and far from the truth.
“These are our bodies and we decide what goes in them. I know people in my industry with vaccine injured children and the herd NEVER stuck around for them.
“I won’t be bullied into making decisions that could impact my health and the health of my family.”
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