Huddersfield boss Simon Woolford feels RFL should do more to keep Covid-19 away
SIMON Woolford believes rugby league’s Covid-19 crisis was an accident waiting to happen – and the Rugby Football League has not gone far enough.
The Huddersfield boss admits he knew an incident like Hull FC’s positive tests would come sooner or later because of the ‘relaxed’ attitude to making sure people are safe.
Six players, five of whom faced Salford on Sunday, have contracted coronavirus, as well as two members of coaching staff – throwing Super League’s revamped schedule into chaos.
While NRL teams have strict bio-secure bubbles, with stringent punishments for anyone who breaks them, common sense is the prevailing attitude here.
And Australian Woolford believes that, with the RFL following Government advice throughout, is a reason why the 13-a-side code’s comeback has been affected.
He even believes the RFL should go above and beyond what Boris Johnson’s administration says.
Woolford said: “This was inevitable, it was going to happen and I’d be surprised if this is the only case we have between now and the end of the season.
“It’s not hard to get on social media and see players from all clubs going out and about doing things they should probably be more careful with.”
The RFL has always made clear it is following Government advice on the Covid-19 situation and even ditched scrums from the game to avoid close contact between players.
To Woolford, though, that is not enough – and the governing body should maybe go beyond Ten Downing Street.
He added: “That’s what I believe. I’ve spoken to our Covid-19 officer a couple of times about me being really surprised when we got back that there were no bubbles and no strictly staying within them.
“No, ‘Don’t go to pubs,’ and no, ‘Don’t go to clubs or nightclubs and don’t get in cabs,’ all these things which are pretty strict over in Australia.
“They’ve had issues with blokes breaking protocol but they’ve been going a fair bit longer than us and I don’t think there’s been an infection issue.
“With the looseness about what players are doing away from rugby, there was always going to be an instance like the Hull FC one.
“I was surprised some stringent protocols weren’t put in place. We had a long time in lockdown to get this right but I think it could’ve been stronger from the powers that be.
“But this was a matter of when, not if and it’s not too late for the RFL to put its foot down and bring in some policy to prevent this happening again.”