Storm CEO Justin Rodski has explained that while club-affiliated forward Nelson Asofa-Solomona is back training with Craig Bellamy's squad, the franchise was not willing to disclose whether the 25-year-old had received a double dose of any COVID-19 vaccine.
While the NRL has not implemented a blanket mandate for vaccination, Asofa-Solomona spoke openly throughout the off-season about his unwillingness to receive inoculation.
Still, with the Victorian Government implementing their own vaccination laws designed to exclude unjabbed parties from certain venues and workplaces, the Wellington-born forward had previously been frozen out of the club's facilities for much of this summer.
However, earlier this month, the dual premiership-winning prop returned to the club's AAMI Park base and resumed his program alongside vaccinated teammates.
The Storm even went so far as to say that the 141-gamer would be eligible to line up in purple for their Round 1 hitout against Wests.
Yet, despite trekking back to Melbourne's fold, it is not yet known whether Asofa-Solomona has received any form of vaccine or whether he had just been deemed exempt by the code's keepers and governing bodies beyond the boundary line.
Speaking onย SEN, Rodski was unwilling to confirm or deny whether the six-time Kiwi international had complied with Victorian state law.
โ[Nelson] has a vaccination certification that enables him to come to work at AAMI Park and enables him to play, and so from our perspective, heโs ticked every box that he needs to,โ Rodski told SEN.
โAs a club, we certainly worked through a process that was pretty long and arduous, to be honest.
โIn the end, the certification provided, that was approved at federal government level, it was then approved at NRL level and ultimately that provided approval for him in a Victorian sense, in a local sense to be able to come to work and then to be able to play.โ
Rodski also stressed that it had been a "sensitive issue" negotiating Asofa-Solomona's return and that he and his side were "comfortable with the position and the decision" of allowing him back.
While the vaccine-hesitant forward is now an option for Bellamy's teamsheet, Rodski was unsure whether Asofa-Solomona would be afforded a warm welcome back by citizens of a city that have spent more time in lockdown than anywhere else on Earth.
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โI think itโs up to others to judge whether or not they should feel comfortable about that,โ he said of the club's loyal fanbase.
Rodski then went on to delineate that there was a precedent for how Victorians are likely to act given the outcry Serbian tennis star Novak Djokovic received after attempting to take the court whilst unvaccinated.
โI was watching that with interest,โ the administrator stated in regard to the entire Djokovic saga.
โI absolutely understand the sentiment from the broader population, particularly Melbourne and Victoria. That was something that we were mindful of and cautious of.
โCertainly, weโre conscious of making sure that when we did get to the point where that decision needed to be made, we were comfortable with an organisation and that involved multiple stakeholders.โ
Asofa-Solomona and the Storm are set to take on the Knights in Ballarat on Sunday evening before their season proper commences at CommBank Stadium against the Tigers on March 12.
