Every club in the NRL is reportedly being impacted by the coronavirus pandemic as the pre-season rolls on.
Now just two months out from the start of the season, most teams have players currently in isolation having contracted COVID.
Most Sydney clubs are in double figures, while it was reported the Gold Coast Titans had more than half of their squad in isolation over the course of the weekend.
North Queensland Cowboys' prop Jordan McLean confirmed there were "about ten" players in quarantine from the side.
"I think there is about ten in the team at the moment," McLean told the media at a Cowboys' training session on Sunday.
"We might be a bit luckier than the Sydney teams at the moment, but we just have to get on with it."
With pre-season's being disrupted across the course of the competition and cases continuing to climb across the east coast of the country in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory, it is becoming clear that the season will be disrupted due to COVID.
McLean said that youngsters were gaining valuable experience at training, but that the team who handles it best would have a head start.
"Obviously it's not good that some boys aren't here, but everyone in the comp has to deal with it, so we just have to get on with it the best we can, and the club that do it best will have a bit of a head start in Round 1," McLean said.
The NRL have beefed up protocols around COVID for all players, including restrictions away from football, and mandatory testing each day, with McLean detailing the procedure.
"We come in and have to do a RAT (rapid) test in the morning, wait 15 minutes for a result and then wear our masks around training. We just have to get on with our jobs," McLean added.
