Looking out for each other and just being good human beings. That's the simple message I'd like to get out there to everyone given what is going on in the world right now.
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It's an extremely serious thing this virus and shocking that people are suffering like they are left, right and centre.
It's heartbreaking to hear all the stories of hardship and to see those lines of people at Centrelink who are now out of a job. It puts into sharp perspective what we as rugby league players are facing.
I won't lie. It's tough being a professional player at peak fitness and be told you can't play. After all the hard work we have gone through during the pre-season to prepare ourselves for 2020, having it shut down after just two games is tough to take. The uncertainty around not knowing if we will get going again this year only makes it worse.
But then you see what is happening in society all around you and you get a pretty decent reality check. It's hit close to home too. The playing group all met with Phil Gardner, Danny Buderus and Adam O'Brien this morning [Wednesday] and were told all the Knights staff had been stood down.
That news was obviously very disappointing to hear. These people have families and mortgages as well so it's really disappointing to know they are in this situation. I think Phil is going to do the best he possibly can to look after everyone and whatever he is going to do, I'm sure he'll do his best. But this sort of thing is worldwide and right throughout society, way bigger than just rugby league.
Everyone is going to take a big hit financially and we as players are no exception and we've got to cop it which we all will. We can't control it - it's what's got to happen
People are saying we are sooking over the pay cuts but none of our guys are sooking about it. The guys that aren't on big contracts, the guys coming off contract as well and all our staff - it's a stressful time. We just have to be there for everyone. If someone is struggling, we have to make sure we are there for them.
As a club, we have to band together and stick solid and that goes for society as well. Like I said before, at the end of the day, we just have to be good human beings. We have to look out for each other.
We are lucky we've got our health and our families and that's the way everyone has to look at it. As for moving forward in anticipation we may play again before the end of the year, we need to be disciplined.
We have got to stay strong because we have worked so hard to get to where we are and we don't want to let it slip. We want to stay fit and be ready to go because if it comes back in June, we want to be ready and if it comes back in September, we want to be ready.
But most of all and it goes for everyone, we must strive to stay safe and healthy.
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