NRL CEO Andrew Abdo says he takes exception to an assertion that without a mandate on COVID-19 vaccination, the league is trying to avoid making tough decisions.
“I don’t think there’s anything soft about our policy,” he said at the 2022 draw launch on Tuesday.
The NRL has repeatedly bristled at the idea of making vaccines mandatory for players, even after today’s announcement from the Queensland government that anyone who isn’t fully vaccinated would be barred entry to Suncorp Stadium – including players.
“What we are doing is giving people freedom of choice – no different to many global sports around the world, no different to any federal or state government in Australia, no different to many employers,” he said.
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“We’re allowing people the freedom of choice, which I think is important. But we’re putting health at the forefront of our policy, which is; we believe in vaccination and we want everyone to get vaccinated.”
Last month, the AFL confirmed vaccines would be mandatory for all players, while Cricket Australia said yesterday that 100 per cent of centrally contracted players were fully vaccinated.
Abdo said that the NRL playing group was more than 95 per cent vaccinated heading into next season.
“The clubs have done a terrific job,” Abdo said.
“We’re at well over 95 per cent vaccination rate now across the playing group, which is terrific. Some clubs are at 100 per cent.
“Whilst we haven’t mandated vaccinations, we have been incredibly strong in educating and facilitating as many players as possible getting vaccinated, and the players and clubs have responded.”
Abdo said the league would adhere to health orders, and that they were working on “pretty stringent” protocols, including rapid testing.
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“We will work with the clubs and the RLPA on what processes and what systems need to be in place for the very, very small group of players that choose not to be vaccinated, and how those are dealt with,” Abdo said.
When pressed on the exact figures, Abdo said that across the 16 clubs there were fewer than 25 players who were yet to be vaccinated.
“We’re talking about a small handful of somewhere between 20 and 24 players, roughly.”
So far the Newcastle Knights are the only club to confirm that the playing group is 100 per cent fully vaccinated.
Abdo said that as long as individual clubs were operating within the rules of governments and the NRL, they were each entitled to make individual employment decisions – but didn’t yet have a plan for salary cap relief should a player be stood down due to their stance on vaccines.
“We’re working on that at the moment, we’re in discussion with the clubs. There’s been a few meetings with the RLPA and ultimately, the commission will have to make a call on these things,” Abdo said.
“It’s complicated, and the situation is evolving.”