NRL stars lash out at tight COVID-19 restrictions ahead of return to pre-season

Some of the NRL's biggest names have queried the tight restrictions imposed as COVID-19 cases hit clubs on the eve of their return to pre-season training.

Brisbane Broncos on Tuesday confirmed four players had COVID-19, while Canterbury are also managing positive cases ahead of the team's return to the paddock on Thursday.

Australia's cricket, soccer and basketball codes are all scrambling to administer their summer seasons while mounting cases in the NBA have caused unprecedented scenes.

In an effort to curb the spread among NRL players ahead of the 2022 season, players will be tested daily, banned from indoor venues — such as pubs, clubs and cinemas — and have restrictions placed on gatherings at home.

The protocols are the result of a concerted effort to ensure the show goes on after two years of disruptions, bubbles and shutdowns but, until now, there have not been any positive cases.

While the Broncos have confirmed all four players were asymptomatic, mounting case numbers in NSW, Victoria and Queensland appear inevitable as the NRL inches towards a restart.

That hasn't stopped some of the code's biggest names from questioning the restrictions they'll be placed under.

NSW Origin quartet Latrell Mitchell, Josh Addo-Carr, Jack Wighton and Jarome Luai all expressed their dissatisfaction on Instagram.

«WTF? Double-vaxxed to just stay the same?,» Mitchell wrote in a sentiment echoed by his Blues teammates.

“Thought I was getting the stupid vax so I didn’t have to do another year off (sic) this s***,’’ Wighton wrote on Instagram. 

Australian COVID-19 cases soared to a pandemic record on Tuesday as the Omicron variant ripped through most of the country.

The country clocked 47,799 new infections, up nearly a third on Monday's number,