NRL players living in Sydney's hotspot areas gain Covid-19 concessions
NRL players from Sydney’s Covid-19 hotspots will be able to continue living at home, while Queensland clubs have also avoided being forced into hotel isolation in the state.
In a crucial day for the NRL on Thursday, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys reached an agreement with Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for the competition to continue in its current form.
All four teams based in Queensland will enter into the same bubble as those south of the Tweed river, with conditions reverted to those when the NRL resumed. However, players from southwest Sydney hotspots will be allowed to continue living in the area for now and enter Queensland without being subject to mandatory quarantine.
Queensland teams will also be able to play against them without entering quarantine on their return after it was initially feared players would have to go into hotels.
“I was concerned (that could happen), we were looking at all options,” V’landys said. “But as usual the premier has come good and helped us out. It’s a win for the players more than anyone else. They will have to go under the protocols again but that’s the same as the players in NSW.
“We are very appreciative of the Queensland government and the premier, who continue to support rugby league.”
Players and officials who live in Liverpool or Campbelltown and face Queensland teams this week were whisked in for tests on Thursday. That included Wests Tigers players David
Nofoaluma and Josh Aloiai ahead of Friday night’s clash with Brisbane at Leichhardt. Tigers assistant coaches Brett Hodgson and Simon Dwyer were also tested. The tests were returned on Friday morning and came back negative.
Penrith’s clash with North Queensland on Sunday is the only other round 10 game involving teams from NSW and Queensland, but the Panthers do not have any players living in Sydney’s atrisk areas.
Mandatory testing will not be commonplace, as the NRL continues to monitor coronavirus case numbers in Sydney. At one stage on Thursday it looked like 19 players who live in affected regions would need to be tested once every three days but that is no loner required. Nor will they have to be tested before they face Queensland clubs, given all players on both sides of the border are now in a strict bubble.
“They’re following protocols and have gone straight for testing. I’m sure those things will happen a lot over a period of time,” Wests Tigers coach Michael Maguire said, referring to the exit of Nofoaluma and Aloiai from training. “We understand the world we’re living in at the moment and we have to do due diligence to make sure everyone is safe.”
The NRL and Wests Tigers are also considering what to do with the club’s 31 July home game at Campbelltown, with a move to Bankwest Stadium likely.