Titans face vexing anti-vax questions
Of all the left-field dramas rugby league has managed to turn up over the years – some comical, some deadly serious – the game continues to plough fresh ground.
And so, on Wednesday, the Gold Coast Titans were fielding phone calls about how they planned to deal with a newly minted anti-vaxer in their squad. It was more of a human resources concern than a football issue but one that posed legitimate health questions for fellow
Titans players, employees and their families.
By then, the story had already been feasted on by news websites, morning television and talkback radio. Via a series of questions on Instagram, Shanelle Cartwright, the wife of Titans forward Bryce Cartwright, had told the world of their refusal to vaccinate any of their children.
The couple have a toddler Koa, 13 months, and Shanelle is due within a week to give birth to the couple’s second child. Neither have been or will be vaccinated, with Shanelle saying she had convinced a reluctant Bryce to support the controversial stance, which flies in the face of all respected medical evidence.
On Wednesday, Shanelle replied to a large number of critics on social media, saying she wasn’t ‘‘anti-vax’’ but was making a choice for her own family. She also posted a number of messages of support.
While the Cartwrights are free to raise their family however they see fit, there were obvious queries for Bryce’s employer.
NRL teams aren’t kindergartens but it’s not unusual to see the partners and children of players in and around the scene.
The presence of nonvaccinated children could be of concern to other players and their families, especially those with infants or toddlers. While the Cartwrights may be content with their choices, what about other players and families?
The Australian Medical Association was quick to warn that certain social media influencers posed ‘unnecessary dangers to public health’. In Queensland, non-vaccinated children can be turned away from childcare centres and preschool programs. Shanelle said she would rather home-school than vaccinate.
Any notion of a ‘baby ban’ at the Titans was quickly shot down on Wednesday, with the club saying they had no plans to exclude the wider Cartwright clan from the greater team environment.