The number of unvaccinated NRL players has reportedly fallen to single digits, with the Canberra Raiders the latest club to have reduced pressure over vaccinations.
With the Queensland and Victorian state governments refusing to budge over policy for the unvaccinated - which will include not being able to travel into the state for teams from outside of the regions, and more importantly, for players to not be able to enter stadiums at all for those teams in the states - the NRL's preference is still to reach full vaccination coverage.
The game won't mandate vaccinations for players, but it's now safely assumed that any unvaccinated players will have at the very least, reduced pay, and beyond that, a possible termination of contract from their respective clubs.
According to a Daily Telegraph report, the Raiders - who previously had more players holding out on the vaccination than any other club with four - are now down to two.
That follows Josh Papalii's reported decisions to become vaccinated against the coronavirus in the last fortnight.
Previous Rugby League Players Associations proposals have stated clubs will be able to dock pay for every week of training missed, and every game missed, and then terminate a player with eight weeks notice.
It's understood the Canterbury Bulldogs are set to take that course of action on John Asiata, who has previously stated he would prefer to work in construction than become vaccinated.
The Melbourne Storm are also well-known to be weighing up their options over star prop Nelson Asofa-Solomona, while the Gold Coast Titans are believed to have two hold outs, including centre Brian Kelly.
The final teams to begin pre-season - the Melbourne Storm, Manly Sea Eagles, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers - are all expected to begin training this week.
At the present time, NRL policy dictates unvaccinated players are allowed to train with the team, however, aren't allowed to use club facilities and are restricted to the same COVID bubble arrangements players have become accustomed to for the past two years, only being able to leave home for essential reasons or training.
