The NRL season is set to begin next month without a biosecurity bubble, although Australian Rugby League Commission chair Peter V'landys has warned the league would return to last year's restrictive off-field rules should there be another COVID-19 outbreak.
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Players and officials would be allowed back on commercial flights and teams would be permitted to stay overnight before and after away games as opposed to being forced into same-day travel - which affected the Canberra Raiders more than any other team last year.
But V'landys was closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation around the country, including the recent coronavirus cases that have emerged this week in Melbourne which could potentially lead to serious repercussions for the Storm.
Speaking at the National Zoo and Aquarium on Thursday before a Ricky Stuart Foundation lunch, V'landys said the NRL would be as adaptable as necessary in 2021.
"We'll go back on commercial flights, we'll go back to staying overnight and the players will have a lot more freedom, however, we are prepared for the worst," V'landys said.
"If there was an outbreak in the community, we'd then go to what we call 'the medium' where we go back to chartered flights and the players would have some restrictions.
"If there is a real big outbreak, we go back to what we were last year. We're very confident at the moment because the community infection is low, next to zero really, that we can give the players normality."
V'landys said contingency plans were already in place should the outbreak in Melbourne worsen. That would likely involve temporarily relocating the Storm from Victoria, much like last season when the side was based at the Sunshine Coast en route to knocking the Raiders out of the preliminary final and winning the premiership.
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The ARLC chairman also said the league would be guided by government advice when it came to COVID-19 vaccinations for players.
COVID-19 jabs would only be made compulsory in the NRL should the government go down that pathway with the wider public, and V'landys encouraged players to treat the vaccination like another flu shot.
"If a player gets the COVID they'll get over it within three or four days because they're fit and healthy individuals," V'landys said.
"Where the exposure was was if they had somebody that was vulnerable or older age that they gave the COVID to, they had dire consequences. If those people that are vulnerable or in the older age bracket [are vaccinated], that risk eliminates.
"We'll always be guided by the federal government, as we were with the vaccinations with the flu. In Queensland it was compulsory to have the flu vaccination as it was in Victoria. We're preparing for all scenarios."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
