Sydney Roosters advise of plans to ban unvaccinated fans from NRL fixtures in 2022

The Sydney Roosters have advised that they will ban unvaccinated fans from their home games as of the 2022 NRL season.

Roosters Chairman, Nick Politis, told Sydney newspaper The Daily Telegraph yesterday that all fans attending live games will need to be vaccinated, advising “we want members and fans to feel safe about coming to the football and knowing the people they are sitting next to have been fully vaccinated.

“It might upset a minority of supporters but it’s the only way forward.

“We think all NRL clubs need to take a responsible stand on this like they are doing overseas.”

However, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has today suggested that it will be up to state governments to apply public health orders rather than individual entities.

Prime Minister Morrison stated “if venues and things like this want to do that, my advice is then they will need the backing of state public health orders to achieve that, to make those sorts of things mandatory.”

Nonetheless, Venues NSW Chairman, Tony Shepherd, has advised that vaccination restrictions may be applied to stadiums, noting “if you can’t be vaccinated, you can’t come (in).”

Shepherd went on to say “if you choose not to have the jab that is your civil right in a free country, but the Delta strain is extremely transmissible and we need to do something to reopen our stadiums.

“It will be a tremendous incentive for people to get vaccinated.”

Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman, Peter V’landys (pictured) is also pushing for NRL players to be vaccinated

With rates of vaccinations among players reported to be low, V’landys reportedly wants NRL players vaccinated before they leave Queensland for their home states when the season ends.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported V’landys is confident NRL players will almost universally agree to a plan to have them vaccinated in Queensland before leaving to their homes.

The NRL will send information packs to nearly 500 players to help allay fears associated with the COVID-19 vaccines in a bid to protect the players in the off-season before they return for pre-season training.

Aiming to promote vaccinations, the NRL’s Let’s Tackle This Together campaign was launched on Friday across a variety of media platforms.

However, the Sydney Morning Herald reported there has been some minor hurdles, which highlight the problems facing the NRL’s bid to get the majority of their players and fans vaccinated.

The report indicated that there has been some anxiety over the campaign, including knock-backs from players, as well as three clubs denying the NRL’s request to put forward a squad member.