Wakefield Trinity could be without unvaccinated players for trip to Catalans Dragons next month

Wakefield's CEO Michael Carter, left. Picture by Allan McKenzie/SWpix.com

Trinity are due to travel to the south of France to take on Catalans Dragons on February 19 and Wakefield could be unable to select some of their players, with six of the 33-man squad yet to be vaccinated against Covid-19.

It has been indicated that exemptions to enter sports venues will not be made for athletes based outside of France.

Wakefield chief executive Michael Carter believes the ruling could call the integrity of the Super League season into question and that players must have their personal choices respected when it comes to being vaccinated or not.

“We’re having a meeting on Thursday about the whole Covid issue,” he said.

“One of the questions I want to ask is if they were to decide to and get themselves their first vaccination, would that cover them? I haven’t seen the definition of what they are classing as vaccinated. I think I’ve got six that are completely unvaccinated while some have had one jab, some have had two and some have had the booster.

“There are others that are adamant that they’re not having the vaccination so I won’t be changing their minds.”

Carter added: “That’s the stance they’ve taken.

“Whether I agree with their views or not, I’ve got to respect their personal choice but, equally, I have got a responsibility to make sure that we are fielding our best players for every single game. It’s not an easy balancing act.

“It will still be an issue for us when we travel to France in February.”

Meanwhile, the decision to bring scrums back for the 2020 season has been delayed until the end of this month owing to the number of players yet to receive the Covid-19 vaccine.

On December 2, the Rugby Football League’s Laws Committee had recommended and the RFL Board had supported that scrums should return in 2022 if 85 per cent of players across

Super League and Championship had been double vaccinated by December 31.

However, as of last month, that threshold had not been met in either division.