Over the weekend it was revealed English import Luke Thompson is "butting heads" with Canterbury<\/a> and is refusing to receive the vaccine, despite the Bulldogs issuing a memo to staff and players the club expects all employees to roll up their sleeve<\/a>.<\/p>\n "We've got to stay united as a rugby league family," V'landys told Nine News.<\/p>\n "I don't want a situation where there's us and them. We've got to be together.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Leaked email reveals unvaccinated tennis stars will be allowed to partake in Australian Open<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "I'm just hoping that hysteria in the community about vaccinated and unvaccinated people doesn't come into the rugby league world."<\/p>\n V'landys was asked whether players who refuse the jab are "putting their contracts at risk".<\/p>\n "No, I don't think so," he replied.<\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Manchester United hits 'rock bottom' after humiliating loss to Liverpool<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE: <\/strong>Parramatta signs boom rookie as heir apparent to Mitchell Moses<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n "Once we get to a certain point of vaccination we have protection."<\/p>\n The vaccination debate is one that is already hijacking sport internationally.<\/p>\n The world's best male tennis player, Novak Djokovic, is refusing to disclose his vaccination status and risks not being let into Australia for the Open in January<\/a>.<\/p>\n In America a number of NBA stars, led by Kyrie Irving<\/a>, are being sidelined over their refusal to get the jab.<\/p>\n V'landys hopes no NRL clubs take matters into their own hands and sideline – or sack – anyone for not getting vaccinated.<\/p>\n "I think (the clubs) have got to be careful\u2026 because we haven't mandated it. And we believe that we can put measures in place that can allow our vaccinated players and unvaccinated players to be together," he said.<\/p>\n "All our advice tells us there is no great risk if 95 per cent of our players are vaccinated (and) the other five per cent aren't.<\/p>\n "Some clubs are extremely high, well above the 95 per cent\u2026 Sharks and Parramatta are two clubs I can recall that are high in their vaccination rates. There are other clubs that have fallen behind."<\/p>\n For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/em><\/strong> clicking here!<\/em><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"![\"Banned\u00a0Flanagan\u00a0lands\u00a0new\u00a0coaching\u00a0job\"](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/10\/388545\/pickerimage.jpg\")
<\/p>\n![\"Michael](\"https:\/\/vms-network-images-prod.s3-ap-southeast-2.amazonaws.com\/2021\/10\/387628\/pickerimage.jpg\")
<\/p>\n