Top doc backs Canberra Raiders trio to play NRL

It would be a different story if there was a vaccine for the COVID-19 virus, but Larkins said NRL players shouldn't be banned from playing if they don't have an influenza injection.

He even felt the NRL could find themselves in court if they tried to do so.

The fate of three Canberra Raiders stars rests in the hands of the ARL Commission, who are deciding on Thursday whether players who don't have a flu shot - or who refuse to sign the NRL's waiver - should be allowed to play when the competition returns on May 28.

Josh Papalii, Sia Soliola and Joe Tapine were all stood down from training on Wednesday after they refused to sign an unchanged NRL waiver stating they were more likely to get the flu is they didn't have the injection.

They were allowed to return to training on Thursday, pending the ARLC coming to a decision at a meeting Thursday afternoon.

Larkins said while the flu shot would help minimise the effects of a particularly nasty 2020 influenza virus on players, clubs and the NRL, it wouldn't prevent the contraction or spread of the COVID-19 virus.

He said a majority of Australians didn't get a flu injection, even though it killed 745 people last year - a lot more than the 97 deaths due to the coronavirus this year - and seriously infected more than 200,000.

The NRL is trying to return to the field after COVID-19 suspended the competition after round two.

Receiving a flu injection or signing the waiver were conditions put in place as part of their proposed return in three weeks.

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"I don't think so. From a civil liberties point of view you can't enforce it on people," Larkins told The Canberra Times.

"You can enforce personal hygiene issues and make sure they wash their hands ... but you can't enforce a player to have the 2020 influenza vaccine in order to participate in the season.

"It's highly recommended because the flu is a very severe flu in 2020 - 2019 was one of the worst years ever for the flu.

"A majority of Australians probably don't get the flu vaccine.

"I think there'd be a significant backlash from any player who was excluded from playing. I think his manager and lawyers would be jumping all over the NRL if they excluded somebody for not having the flu vaccine.

"I think it would be different if there was a corona vaccine - and there isn't - I think that would be a stronger argument to enforce that so it didn't stop the competition."

Larkins said the flu vaccine wasn't 100 per cent effective and you could still catch it even if you had the injection.

But it would help reduce the symptoms and the spread of the flu.

He said the flu vaccine would in no way prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

"They're totally different viruses ... don't even speak the same language, but the issue was if you get the flu - given it's such a nasty 2020 version - it can also put a team out of action," Larkins said.

"And it can take up hospital space for the really sick. We don't want people in hospital with the flu when we thought there was going to be a lot of people in hospital with corona.

"It had nothing to do with whether it was going to prevent players getting corona or stop the corona risk, what it did minimise was the risk a team could be put out of action because one of the players gets the flu."