Clubs were informed on Thursday that players and coaching staff must return to a bubble of some sort where they can only leave their homes for training or to shop for essential items.
It means Top 30 players who are not selected to play NRL that would usually drop back to play NSW Cup will be unable to join their reserve grade teammates.
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Round 9
But the restrictions will impact some NSW Cup teams even further.
Blacktown Workers Manly Sea Eagles feeder team, the Panthers and the Eels are among the teams that will turn up to their games this weekend without a coach.
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The NRL protocols ultimately stop any NSW Cup coach that works full time with an NRL club from attending their teams game this weekend. They are also unable to attend their teams training sessions or captains run until the restrictions are lifted.
Its a unique situation we havent experienced before given NSW Cup, as well as Queensland Cup and the lower grades were cancelled in March last year due to COVID.
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Penriths undefeated NSW Cup side and their Jersey Flegg side were supposed to play as curtain raisers to the main game at BlueBet Stadium on Friday night.
Both games have been rescheduled to Saturday.
But the teams will be disrupted way beyond that. The Panthers NSW Cup team have lost 12 of their 17 players due to the bubble. The team that will run out on Saturday will be made up of nine St Marys players from their Ron Massey Cup feeder side and eight Jersey Flegg players.
All the new faces that link up for the Panthers tomorrow will have to introduce themselves before kick-off and do so without coach Peter Wallace, who is employed full time by the Panthers and therefore is in the bubble.
Meanwhile, Newtown, the Eels and Mounties will have to push on without their top 30 halves in Braydon Trindall, Jordan Rankin and Lachie Lewis respectively.
Blacktown are chasing just their second win of the season but will be forced to do so without the likes of Manly top 30 players Jorge Taufua and Christian Tuipulotu. Their coach, Matt Ballin, is employed full time by the Sea Eagles so he will not be at Redfern on Saturday to watch his team take on the Rabbitohs.
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Parramattas NSW Cup coach Ryan Carr is also employed full time but his team take on the North Sydney Bears at Bankwest Stadium before the NRL game on Friday so he will likely be able to watch from the clean zone but just not enter the NSW Cup sheds.