With Covid-19 cases on the rise, squad depth is going to be more important than ever this year.
Several NRL clubs have lost chunks of their squad throughout pre-season due to positive cases.
Two-thirds of the Warriors’ squad tested positive, 16 Broncos players were forced into isolation all around the same time and the Titans set a competition record with 22 positive cases after the Christmas break.
The Roosters had just 11 players available on their first day of training for 2022, while Bulldogs postponed a training session to wait out the isolation of a number of players.
It’s a challenge that every club is going to face at some point, which is why the NRL is weighing up options ensure clubs can tackle any Covid curveballs. Late last year Raiders coach Ricky Stuart suggested the NRL should scrap the rule that prevents players from outside of the Top 30 being selected for first grade before Round 11.
More recently, Broncos assistant coach John Cartwright said allowing clubs to dip into their lower ranked players (development or part-time reserve grade and under 20s players) is “a must.”
“What’s happening now to every club in the NRL could happen at any stage,” he told Wide World of Sports Radio.
“I think squads are going to have access to players or we are going to have to start cancelling games and no one wants to see that.”
Titans coach Justin Holbrook believes having bigger squads is “definitely the way to go.”
Australian Rugby League Commission Chairman Peter V’landys has indicated that increasing squad sizes is indeed being considered for the 2022 season.
But while clubs eagerly await an announcement they just have to make do with what they’ve got. At the moment with no games and clubs stacked with extended pre-season squads, Covid cases are merely just an inconvenient disruption to training.
But when the season kicks off positive cases could be a disaster, which is why Foxsports.com.au has dissected every club’s roster and assessed whether they are bulletproof, can manage, or need to send out an SOS.
Source: foxsports.com.au