Canberra Raiders star Jack Wighton is one of several NRL players that have queried the tight restrictions imposed as COVID-19 cases hit clubs on the eve of their return to pre-season training.
Brisbane on Tuesday confirmed four players had COVID-19, while Canterbury are also managing positive cases ahead of the team’s return to the paddock on Thursday.
In an effort to curb the spread among NRL players ahead of the 2022 season, players will be tested daily, banned from indoor venues like pubs, nightclubs and cinemas and have restrictions placed on gatherings at home.
The Sydney Morning Herald are reporting that visitors – including a partner or child that does not live with the player – attempting to enter the home of any NRL player will need to provide a negative rapid antigen test.
The handful of unvaccinated players left in the NRL will only be allowed to leave home for essential household tasks and will not be allowed any visitors into their homes or visit any other homes. They will also have separate bathroom and eating areas to their teammates as well as segregated indoor gym use.
The protocols are the result of a concerted effort to ensure the show goes on after two years of disruptions, bubbles and shutdowns, but until now there has not been any positive cases.
The Broncos confirmed all four players were asymptomatic but with mounting case numbers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland, more cases across the competition appear inevitable as the NRL inches towards a restart.
That hasn’t stopped some of the code’s biggest names from questioning the restrictions they’ll be placed under.
Wighton along with fellow NSW Origin players Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr and Jarome Luai all expressed their dissatisfaction on Instagram.
“Thought I was getting the stupid vax so I didn’t have to do another year of this s***” Wighton put on his Instagram story.
Fellow Raider Hudson Young posted “Double jabbed same old rules lol.”
“WTF? Double vaxxed to just stay the same?,” Mitchell wrote.
Luai simply put “This aint it.”
Raiders coach Ricky Stuart recently urged Peter V’landys to allow a club’s entire list – including development players – to be available for selection to cover COVID-related absences this year.
“People smarter than me are looking after this but what I told Peter is that we have got to have our rookies, our trial trainers, we have got to have them all ready to go,” Stuart told The Daily Telegraph.
“And it can’t be in June/July (when clubs can call up players outside the top 30 roster).
“We have to train these blokes as if they are going to be playing first grade at some stage this year because there is going to be disruptions, but we can’t ruin the product.”
Australian COVID-19 cases soared to a pandemic record on Tuesday as the Omicron variant ripped through most of the country.
The country clocked 47,799 new infections, up nearly a third on Monday’s number which was also a record.
Cases have been rampant through the Big Bash League, forcing the competition into drastic fixture changes while the A-Leagues and NBL have also been heavily impacted.
In the United States most NBA clubs have long lists of players and staff unavailable due to health and safety protocols, forcing the postponement of more than 10 games last month.
With AAP
Get all the latest Canberra news, sport, entertainment, lifestyle, competitions and more delivered straight to your inbox with the Canberra Daily Daily Newsletter. Sign up here.
