Wayne Pearce vows NRL’s Project Apollo will work with just the facts

Wayne Pearce has vowed “hysteria” and “fear” won’t cloud the facts as the Project Apollo team pushes to get the NRL back by June.

The NRL’s Project Apollo leader Wayne Pearce. Picture: Bill Hearne

The man who led NSW to their first State of Origin series clean sweep has vowed “hysteria” and “fear” won’t cloud the facts as the Project Apollo team pushes to get the NRL back playing by June.

As the race to restart the competition gets real, Project Apollo team leader Wayne Pearce revealed it would be crucial to house players close enough to laboratories capable of returning coronavirus tests “within a matter of hours, not days”.

This could rule out a regional location such as Gladstone in Queensland, a city previously considered one of the leading venue options.

“Where we are going to play is going to be impacted by a number of factors, one of which is the biosecurity, one is the availability of testing facilities,” Pearce said.

“We need to be in an environment where you can get tests done and results back within a matter of hours, not days.

“That is a huge thing that probably hasn’t been reported.

“It means areas remote from a lab that can do the tests are going to be unlikely to be suitable to house the bubble.”

Asked if that ruled out Gladstone or Tangalooma Island Resort, Pearce said: “It doesn’t mean the (Tangalooma) island is out because that is only an hour from the middle of Brisbane.

“We are just doing a fair bit of work at the moment looking at the different facilities and laboratories.”

Pearce said without hesitation this was “absolutely” the toughest professional challenge he had faced since his playing days.

“The thing is there are so many moving pieces and a lot of stuff that is not within our control, namely the spread of the virus,” he said.

“But there is a lot of stuff we can control and that is what we have to work with.

“My philosophy is that I am dealing with the facts.

“There is a lot of opinion out there, there is a lot of hysteria, there is a lot of fear, and that is clouding the facts.

“But if we cut through the fear and deal with the facts then I think we are in a much better position to get the game up and ­running.”

Pearce also believes other industries will be inspired by the NRL’s drive to provide a safe environment for the players to return to work.

If the plans work the NRL will establish a precedent for sports around the world to follow.

“We are looking to create a biosecurity shield around the players and officials and people involved that is going to make sure everyone who goes in there is COVID-free,” Pearce explained.

“And once you are in there then the risk of infection, providing you keep your biosecurity protocols in place, is very, very low.

“You can’t get zero (risk) but you can’t get zero driving a car. But you can get it as low as possible. That is dealing with the facts. It is a costly exercise.

“It is an exercise that requires a commitment from your employees which is our staff and players. And if we get buy-in from all the stakeholders then we are going to have a crack.”

Pearce said the most important piece of the puzzle was getting the right locations bedded down.

After that, they could work out how the competition should be structured and where State of Origin should sit in the season schedule.

“That is the core piece,” Pierce said.

“If we can get that right which then the other stuff will fall into place and that can be expedited.

“This is something we have never really faced as a sport or probably as a country.”

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