Trust at a premium as rugby league plots a way back

The NRL have unveiled plans for the sport to return next month but the actions of some players could’ve undermined them already

Latrell Mitchell was one of those caught not following government guidelines (Getty Images)

The NRL’s plans to bring rugby league back are at risk of being undermined by those very people they are trying to get back on the field.

As sports all over the globe look for a resolution to resolve their decimated schedules, Australia’s most-watched winter sport appears one of the closest to seeing their athletes return to competition sooner rather than later.

The NRL unveiled plans on Tuesday for the sport to return next month with players and staff set to be allowed to go back to training next week. A new 20-round competition would then begin on May 28, pending government approval.

Strict protocols and social distancing measures will still be enforced with players not allowed out of their homes except to play and train with matches, at least at first, taking place behind closed doors without fans inside stadiums.

However, critics of the move say the NRL and its players have already let down public trust – after promising a strict approach to the health and safety of those involved, a number of high-profile players have already been caught in contravention of government guidelines.

South Sydney Rabbitohs’ Latrell Mitchell, Melbourne Storm’s Josh Addo-Carr and Penrith Panthers’ Nathan Cleary were all involved in incidents over the weekend with fines and suspended one-match bans handed out just hours before the new plans were revealed.

Australian internationals Addo-Carr and Mitchell had already been fined by New South Wales police for camping last weekend with a group of men, including Newcastle Knights player Tyronne Roberts-Davis.

Pictures of Cleary sitting alongside five women inside his house were also posted on social media.

In addition to the bans the four players concerned were fined a combined total of 120,000 Australian dollars, with half of that amount suspended.

Critics have already labelled the sanctions far too lenient with year-long suspensions mooted by leading TV analyst and former player and coach Phil Gould.

They could still come into effect, with further police action also a possibility for both Addo-Carr and Mitchell over alleged firearm offences in the same incident.

Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said players have to be more responsible.

“The players have to understand that they are putting the game and the community at risk by their actions,” he said. “It’s certainly hard to accept such behaviour when the game is doing everything it can to persuade the community that its players are responsible and behave appropriately.

“The penalties have been structured so as to give these players one further opportunity to demonstrate that they can be trusted.”

At a time where faith in the collective actions of others is being tested all over by the coronavirus pandemic, that trust, for many watching on, may have already run out.