News Vaccine stance a major sticking point for Bulldogs

[Moey]

In the near future... will people who have had their 55th booster shot blame covid on the ones who have only had 54 booster shots?? And force them to sit out too...

 

[wendog33]

Hi Wendy, Luke does not want the vaccination infact his family back in the UK including his brother have also refused it !
But if his decision is going to affect his playing career at the Bulldogs then he will have to reluctantly take the vaccine.

Gee whiz he is getting involved in heaps of off the ball hassles and also on field hassles like suspensions. The guy is too good a player to have this negative energy around him. Have a talk to him mate

Many of us saw him as a future club captain but he seems to be carelessly devaluing his legacy at our club.


Surely he was aware that by refusing getting vaxxed it was a decision that was going to affect his playing career at the Bulldogs and it was going to be an issue .

There's been a few too many issues with Thommo for the good of the club and him.

It seems there are a few mutual humps in the relationship. I hope they can be worked out or it really seems it's best for all parties for him to move on. He won't have any problems finding another club.

Be a shame tho bc we look finally like we will be playing an entertaining, forward skills game, similar to St Helens and a great 5/8 for him to work off. He should be the forward best placed to thrive under this gameplan as he knows that game very well.

 

[Waldo]

surely all the drugs players shoot up have more implications towards there health than the vaccine, suck it up and get it. I can understand wanting a choice but fuck me. even if u can still pass and get covid after getting vaxxed, it helps the body overcome the virus easier with less ramifications

 

[Matthew G]

I dont get where else he would play? Arent all clubs taking the same stance as us?? Surely him not getting the vacc would put other players at risk also at any club hes at

 

[Woofwoof1980]

Rapid antigen testing is the solution

Its something like 60% accurate and generally once you've tested positive your already contagious

 

[2144superman]

surely all the drugs players shoot up have more implications towards there health than the vaccine, suck it up and get it. I can understand wanting a choice but fuck me. even if u can still pass and get covid after getting vaxxed, it helps the body overcome the virus easier with less ramifications

I get what you’re saying but what for the player who don’t snort and shoot up and decide they aren’t getting the Jab or still questioning it? You’re alleging they all or the majority snort coke and do social drugs and therefore do the wrong thing ..

 

[Wild Robbo]

I dont get where else he would play? Arent all clubs taking the same stance as us?? Surely him not getting the vacc would put other players at risk also at any club hes at

If he doesnt get the vacc he will not be able to play in the NRL.
The NRL will surely not register his contract anywhere else.
He will need to get a career change or piss off back to England.

 

[Dingo]

Thommo will change his tune eventually. Won't be by Nov 1 though. Brooks is bog average wouldn't seriously consider him.

 

[Como Dog]

From what I understand the club and the nrl may be able to take action against an unvaxxed player who gets covid. So if Thommo chooses not get vaxxed but then gets covid he could be held liable for any lost revenue . For instance if games had to get delayed or cancelled. I heard this in a podcast a few weeks ago.

This could potentially be hundreds of thousands of dollars. So even though the nrl can’t make you get vaxxed you are taking a massive financial risk if you don’t

Would never be 100% proven it was the unvaxed player who first contracted and spread covid as other vaxed players could contract and spread covid at the same time. Would only work if Vaccine was 100% effective in preventing Covid. I think that was someone's wild guess on potential legal scenarios.

 

[GrogDog]

Fuck off you with your opinions

Mind your own business c#nt!

 

[Sloth]

Hook, line and sinker…the amount of crap that this gossip magazine puts out to create drama at the dogs to put us down…This was more than likely a passing conversation that got blown out of proportion in favour for another “glamour” club

According to them, We’re supposedly always in some sort of crisis especially now when we’ve got the brightest season coming up since Hasler arrived. The Dragons are in a worst position than us next year but we rarely see an article about them.

Unless it actually comes from the club don’t believe this shit, I bet that there’s a percentage of players that are refusing the vaccine but yet we’re not hearing a peep on who’s who in other clubs. Not one player in the Roosters or Storm refusing? Unlikely

In Thommo’s and Tigers situation, there will be further questions on the decision making of tigers management if they pursue him now for his full contract to play him Part time. I don’t think any club is THAT desperate.

 

[Flanagun]

There are no side effects from the vaccine for hate, Fam. Get your first shot of love today. Namaste.

 

[piggy]

Its something like 60% accurate and generally once you've tested positive your already contagious

You are wrong...get your facts correct...it's 90% accurate....do your research...they are using it in alot of offices

 

[dogluva]

Are clubs expected to pay players who can’t play because of “personal choice”?

Remember Hopoate?
Three would be no sort of dispensation fro the NRL either. I find it strange that the clubs will say to their players be vaccinated but the NRL won't mandate it....depending on what restrictions are enforced by the states governments and airline carriers how will the player be able to travel and depending on the draw they could have to miss up to five games from the season total ( Brisbane, Cows Tits, NZ and the magic weekend)Would isolation also be a problem?

 

[wendog33]

Remember Hopoate?
Three would be no sort of dispensation fro the NRL either. I find it strange that the clubs will say to their players be vaccinated but the NRL won't mandate it....depending on what restrictions are enforced by the states governments and airline carriers how will the player be able to travel and depending on the draw they could have to miss up to five games from the season total ( Brisbane, Cows Tits, NZ and the magic weekend)Would isolation also be a problem?

Just more ineptness from NRLol, lack of clarity and foisting unworkable non-decisions back on the clubs.

If we get to the situation where we get a mass outbreak of infection across a few clubs, the season will be over anyway ...unless they have the hubs set up again to reduce transmission within clubs. Surely that means mandatory vax?

They can't depend on Qld again bc we will have widespread C19 as well, so this is going to be interesting and expose yet again the folly of the NRLol "leadership".

 

[dogluva]

He cant be sacked as vaccinations for players have not been made manditory by the NRL

NRL being smart in making it a personal choice and the clubs can't do a damn thing about it. But in saying that ALL clubs are in the same position and unless a club is wanting to poach a particular player and are happy to let them sit out games then it is a different matter...the real sticking point will be the physical rules set up to cover this ( isolation / travel etc.)

If the NRL made it mandatory, will we be in this ongoing saga?

Probably not. But Abdo warned that the players who don't get vaccinated would have to abide by stricter guidelines and it may be taken out of their hands anyway (NRL) by health orders or the airlines themselves.

‘There will be repercussions’: NRL makes decision on mandatory vaccinations

The NRL CEO has revealed the game’s plans for players who refuse a COVID-19 jab.

7news.com.au

‘There will be repercussions’: NRL makes decision on mandatory vaccinations

NRL CEO Andrew Abdo says players will not be mandated to have a COVID-19 vaccine but warned unvaccinated players would be subject to more stringent protocols.

On the same day the AFL mandated its players to be vaccinated by mid-February, Abdo took a slightly different approach.

The NRL has been grappling with mandatory vaccinations since the resumption of the 2020 season when several high-profile players including Bryce Cartwright, Josh Papalii and Joseph Tapine expressed reluctance to receive the flu shot.

Despite many businesses and rival codes mandating employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, Abdo said the NRL would leave it up to the players.

“Clearly we need to make sure we have continuity to the competition, and we are creating a safe working environment,” he told Channel 7.

“We are busy working on the protocols for the players who are vaccinated and the players that are not vaccinated. Hopefully we are talking about a very small group of players.

“They will have, I’d imagine, some pretty rigorous requirements around what they will be able to do in order to train and play.

“Of course this might be taken out of our hands by health orders or by airlines, so there will be repercussions for those that don’t choose to be vaccinated but it’s not our approach as a governing body to mandate it.


“Between now and the end of the off-season we will have a very clear set of guidelines for how the clubs and players can get back to training safely for those who are vaccinated and those who aren’t yet vaccinated.”

Abdo claimed some clubs had close to 90 per cent of players and staff vaccinated with the governing body’s own staff up to 98 per cent.

Meanwhile, Abdo said the potential introduction of an 18th team could see the NRL introduce a conference system.

The Redcliffe-based Dolphins, who unveiled Wayne Bennett as their coach on Thursday, will become the 17th NRL franchise in the 2023 season.

While he refused to speculate when and where the 18th club would come from, Abdo said the increase in teams would force the Australian Rugby League Commission to examine a conferencing system.

 

[Hacky McAxe]

You are wrong...get your facts correct...it's 90% accurate....do your research...they are using it in alot of offices

Accuracy varies depending on symptoms and other factors. Rapid Antigen Testing is most accurate when you first get symptoms and is generally around 90% accurate at that stage. If it's over 1 week after onset of symptoms or just after getting infected, the accuracy drops down to around 50%. And that's before taking into account the false positive rate which is fairly high (between 5-10%)

Rapid Antigen was never meant to be a single case testing thing. It was designed to get rough figures during an outbreak. So it's good for NSW and VIC while the numbers are high, but not good if you're trying to find out if one person in a team has it.

But even with 90% accuracy, if you have 30 people in a team getting tested, you have a decent chance of getting at least one false positive. A single false positive test before a game means that the game will be stopped to protect the unvaccinated. If everyone is vaccinated then they don't test because there's not much risk.

 

[Ripley]

Remember Hopoate?
Three would be no sort of dispensation fro the NRL either. I find it strange that the clubs will say to their players be vaccinated but the NRL won't mandate it....depending on what restrictions are enforced by the states governments and airline carriers how will the player be able to travel and depending on the draw they could have to miss up to five games from the season total ( Brisbane, Cows Tits, NZ and the magic weekend)Would isolation also be a problem?

Hopoate is irrelevant because we knew his thing before he signed with us and the contract reflected that.

Nobody in The NRL, to date, signed a contract allowing for not being able to play in Melbourne, so far, and potentially QLD, NSW & NZ because their “personal choice” conflicts with government regulations.

And I reckon you can lock in QLD and NZ.

 

[Papa Joe]

What's gonna happen if a fully vaccinated squad refuses to play against Un-Vaccinated player, who do you think will be made to sit out???

I know what is going on in the world is crazy right now, but they have made they majority of the country get vaccinated almost by force to regain our freedom and will ban unvaccinated people from attending certain public places - what makes anyone think that Footy will be different.

I don't agree with what's going on in the world, but them's the facts.

 

[Chris Harding]

It's going to be hard to comment on this without getting into my own personal opinions on vaccine mandates. I'll keep it to 2 quick points though: The Bulldogs aren't alone in this sort of conundrum in terms of world sport, it's happening everywhere - NBA being a prime example of some teams being potentially forced to consider trading star players due to vaccine mandates in specific states (i.e Brooklyn Nets with Kyrie Irving). The 2nd thing I'll say is I wish we didn't enforce this on our own players given the NRL themselves has come out and said they won't mandate it. I say this as someone who isn't a conspiracy theorist and someone who is vaccinated. I believe in freedom of choice and I'll leave it at that (hopefully I'm not skirting too close to a ban on that one but won't comment further on this forum on that particular point).

On Brooks, he's a better option at 7 than what we have I believe. His game definitely hasn't progressed for a few years but a change of scenery might mean we get the best out of him. I really hope it isn't Thompson who's sacrificed to get him though just as he's finding his feet in the NRL.

The club has the right to insist on its own standards, just as a retailer has the right to refuse service to someone who will not show proof of vaccination. Because of the close contact in training it is not something the Bulldogs believe they can afford to take a risk over; and his ability to travel will impact on the team..