NRL set to clear major hurdles, says V’landys

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys is confident the major hurdles to the NRL’s competition restart will be cleared within the next week including a broadcast deal, fixture and final rule changes.

Finishing touches are being placed on negotiations with Channel 9 and Foxtel, which is expected to involve a four-year extension of the deal to lock in the broadcast partners until the end of 2026.

Finalisation of the broadcast deal will also allow the new draw to be announced with the competition to restart on May 28.

Last night V’landys said the commission will this week approve a proposal from Project Apollo to reduce the number of referees per game from two to one to save costs.

He is also confident the Queensland government will accept the NRL’s biosecurity guidelines, which allows players to sign a waiver to refuse the flu shot.

This would clear Gold Coast Titans duo Bryce Cartwright and Brian Kelly to return to training next week after they were stood down by the Queensland government under a ‘no jab, no play’ policy.

“I guess where this has gone off the rails a little bit is everyone is looking at 1 or 2 per cent of players and 98 per cent of the players went and got vaccinated conscientiously,” V’landys said.

“If you look at the general community there’s probably 1 or 2 per cent of people who wouldn’t be vaccinated.

“Rugby league is part of the community and it’s no different, there’s always going to be some people that are going to have a different ideology.”

V’landys said players who refused the vaccination only pose a health risk to themselves given contracting the flu and coronavirus at the same time is potentially deadly.

As of yesterday afternoon the Titans were still waiting to hear from Cartwright and Kelly over whether they would agree to be vaccinated.

Neither will be allowed back into the bubble until they have had the injection.

Until the Queensland government is satisfied with the NRL’s waiver, questions will continue to be raised over whether players who have not been vaccinated will be allowed to play in the state. This could potentially impact the NRL draw.

A final copy of the biosecurity guidelines was sent to all NRL clubs, the Rugby League Players’ Association and governments last Sunday for approval, which included a waiver for the flu vaccination for players who objected to the shot for a variety of reasons.

However, it is unknown whether the Queensland government received the final copy or simply overlooked the updated version.

It is believed up to 20 NRL players have so far refused to be vaccinated.

Canberra players Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine and Sia Soliola as well as Manly’s Dylan Walker have also objected to the jab.

However, the NRL is not expecting any objection to the flu vaccination waiver from other state governments.