While more than 96 per cent of the players that ply their trade within the NRL have currently received at least one Covid jab, a worrying minority have continued to dig their heels in over the matter.
In a Saturday afternoon report from The Daily Telegraph, 15 players from 12 clubs across the competition have been labelled as remaining reticent to receiving either the AstraZeneca or Pfizer vaccine.
The collective worth of this unvaccinated group is said to be worth north of $6 million.
According to said report, the careers of Jason Taumalolo, Nelson Asofa-Solomona, Josh Papalii, Joseph Tapine, Api Koroisau, Dylan Walker, Brian Kelly and John Asiata are all currently sitting precariously due to their anti-inoculation stance.
A further seven players from the Raiders, Warriors, Sharks, Tigers, Roosters and Dragons were also raised within the report, however, their identities remain anonymous.
This suppression is due to the fact that aside from informing their employers, the players have remained tight-lipped about their views.
Although each of these listed parties has claimed that they will choose to opt-out of obtaining any form of injection against the virus, journalist Dave Riccio explained that only two from this group of 15 have applied for medical exemption.
Despite the league stating that they would not employ a blanket banning mandate for unvaccinated players, each of these unjabbed players may soon face the prospect of taking hits to their hip pocket.
While still yet to be passed, the employment of a proposal that would see unimmunnised players stung with 20 per cent hit to their annual salary has been raised as a possibility.
Should this NRL proposal be passed by the ARL prior to Christmas, a $1 million player like Taumalolo would see $200,000 taken from his bottom line during the season of giving and good tidings.
The other big losers under this proposal are Asofa-Solomona who is expected to part with $135,000, Papalii ($132,000), Tapine ($120,000), Koroisau ($95,000) and the unnamed Warrior ($145,000).
Given each of these players are said to have been routinely consulted by club-based medical practitioners, should their bottom lines begin to thin in the near future, they are unlikely to find many sympathetic ears.