48-0 ??!!

[HawkMan]

This has to be a joke, how can you punish clubs because of covid like this. Punishment should only be if the club in question is careless and disregarded covid protocols. 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/59884125

[Damien]

I also noted this:

The table will also no longer be decided on points percentage.

I can understand why they are trying to be much harsher to try and prevent abuse but I can see this being unworkable pretty quickly. 

[Man of Kent]

Good on the RFL for having the cojones to take what appears to be a firm stance. Other sports could learn from this. 

[Jughead]

I think plenty of people were cynical about postponements over the past couple of years and whether some of them were genuine or some were “tactically” called off, so I can see why they need a deterrent to prevent any potential abuse, however, if we’re still using some form of testing (the EFL are no longer doing so), I think it’s perhaps a little harsh if clubs have genuine covid cases. 

[HawkMan]

You just have to study medical proof given by clubs to judge if it's genuine. The EFL and PL do this, and testing is still carried out there,  but not on day of game. The inference here is that even with a genuine reason you forfeit the game 48-0 ,not even try to rearrange game. So if covid stops Toulouse travelling or visitors to France, and leads to say 3 games cancelled,  that could relegate them at the end of the season. 

[Davo5]

Are clubs going to lock their players away in solitary confinement between games,if not there is going to be a lot of 48-0 games this year given the national infection rate is 1 in 15, it will turn the comp into a farce.

[Man of Kent]

6 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

You just have to study medical proof given by clubs to judge if it's genuine. The EFL and PL do this, and testing is still carried out there,  but not on day of game. The inference here is that even with a genuine reason you forfeit the game 48-0 ,not even try to rearrange game. So if covid stops Toulouse travelling or visitors to France, and leads to say 3 games cancelled,  that could relegate them at the end of the season. 

Travel restrictions imposed by national government wouldn’t apply in this case and are a wholly different matter from a team being unable to field a side due to positive Covid tests. 

[Just Browny]

Yeah not sure about this at all.

If club A got a load of Covid cases, forcing a cancellation and could put together a decent case that it was as a result of playing club B the week before, it could well become legal chaos in a league with relegation at stake.

[Man of Kent]

13 hours ago, Just Browny said:

Yeah not sure about this at all.

If club A got a load of Covid cases, forcing a cancellation and could put together a decent case that it was as a result of playing club B the week before, it could well become legal chaos in a league with relegation at stake.

How would they put together a decent case? Do the Omicron particles have name tags on them?

[HawkMan]

I understand that in a world Cup year it's difficult to extend season,  and unlike football you can't really cram in two games a week due to recovery time needed,  but if a team has to fit in an extra midweek game, then their Friday game could be played on Thurs instead and the extra game on Tuesday and the following weekend match put back to Sunday,  so it is possible. But even in the worst case scenario if the covid is genuine and the game cannot be played because of nobody's fault then do as they do in cricket when a game is rained off, one point each, score 0-0 as to not grossly effect table. 

[Desert Skipper]

Well, if the salary cap didn’t help to level the league up, this certainly will

[Wollo Wollo Wayoo]

48-0 sounds a bit harsh but I like the idea.  

[Robin Evans]

55 minutes ago, Damien said:

I also noted this:

The table will also no longer be decided on points percentage.

I can understand why they are trying to be much harsher to try and prevent abuse but I can see this being unworkable pretty quickly. 

Well that's just fab

[Curly perm]

It transfers the responsibility to clubs and players to take covid seriously. Last couple of years we’ve had breaking protocols, not having proper protocols in place, suspicions of faking outbreaks to get games cancelled etc. 

If <85% players are vaccinated, they’re probably assuming there’s a lax attitude in general and they’re trying to get clubs/players to sort themselves out. 

[weloveyouwakefield2]

So clubs will have a game of dare who’s going to declare first…

it’s going to create chaos, the away club will nothing to lose waiting while last minute to postpone? Whereas the home team will have costs to cover , it will be madness…

[Desert Skipper]

5 minutes ago, Curly perm said:

If <85% players are vaccinated, they’re probably assuming there’s a lax attitude in general

But if it’s not a legal requirement, and it’s not written in the contract a player signed, it’s a bit unfair on the clubs. A better way might be to centrally finance a little extra match bonus for vaccinated players. That means you still have the choice to not get jabbed, but you lose out on the extra pay.

[HawkMan]

I don't know if this could happen,  but instead of trying to get a game called off  by exaggerating covid ,could a club fearing a 48-0 defeat and no points in a vital game, ignore positive tests to play the game and therefore spreading it more.

Isn't it better to have a punishment free environment to encourage teams to reveal covid thus slowing the spread.

[Whippet13]

6 minutes ago, HawkMan said:

I don't know if this could happen,  but instead of trying to get a game called off  by exaggerating covid ,could a club fearing a 48-0 defeat and no points in a vital game, ignore positive tests to play the game and therefore spreading it more.

Isn't it better to have a punishment free environment to encourage teams to reveal covid thus slowing the spread.

No, because you couldn't keep that a secret even if you wanted to. I also doubt any club medical staff or doctor would want to put their professional careers at risk either.

[Desert Skipper]

What are the actual requirements on testing for the 2022 season? Are we doing regular testing for all players, or just the symptomatic/track and trace requirement like in normal society? 

[Archie Gordon]

0-48 is a punishment. But for *what* is not clear to me. I'm assuming that this proposal is trying to introduce an incentive/disincentive - but, again, for clubs to do *what*?

[HawkMan]

3 minutes ago, Whippet13 said:

No, because you couldn't keep that a secret even if you wanted to. I also doubt any club medical staff or doctor would want to put their professional careers at risk either.

So why would club doctors risk exaggerating covid to help their clubs get a postponement. That is what is apparently feared by SL. Assuming honesty and integrity at clubs, asking for a postponement must be assumed genuine and punishment is just plain wrong .

[Desert Skipper]

Just now, Archie Gordon said:

0-48 is a punishment. But for *what* is not clear to me. I'm assuming that this proposal is trying to introduce an incentive/disincentive - but, again, for clubs to do *what*?

Agreed. Hypothetically, what if a player is unable to get vaccinated for medical reasons? The result is the same when an outbreak occurs but that club wasn’t in a position to have mitigated or prevented it. Seems a tad punitive. Maybe we just ask the players to be a bit more flexible this year and play midweek catch-up games. It’s a tough ask, though. Maybe by early season when this wave settles we’ll see a government policy change over asymptomatic isolation. Depends how rapidly it drops off in the coming weeks I suppose.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

48-0 is ridiculously high, don't understand the need to increase it from the previous 24-0.

[Moove]

18 minutes ago, Archie Gordon said:

0-48 is a punishment. But for *what* is not clear to me. I'm assuming that this proposal is trying to introduce an incentive/disincentive - but, again, for clubs to do *what*?

For the players to keep their kids out of school for the year, live at home as a hermit and only leave for training inside disinfected zorb balls. Easy.

Unless infection rates drop considerably before February and we move to only testing symptomatic cases the season could easily descend into farce early on.

Could be a real struggle for clubs running with smaller squads this year.

[thebrewxi]

1 hour ago, HawkMan said:

You just have to study medical proof given by clubs to judge if it's genuine. The EFL and PL do this, and testing is still carried out there,  but not on day of game. The inference here is that even with a genuine reason you forfeit the game 48-0 ,not even try to rearrange game. So if covid stops Toulouse travelling or visitors to France, and leads to say 3 games cancelled,  that could relegate them at the end of the season. 

Or it could ensure both catalans and Toulouse finish mid table if enough flights to France are cancelled. The cynic in me thinks have both clubs free from both relegation and the playoffs fir a couple of seasons would suit most people well.