Jenno: Well Darnell, it's been another one of those 'only rugby league' weeks, with the NRL in the midst of an anti-vaxxer stink, of all the frikken things, that could derail the competition's restart. It seems staggering, with all the work the game's done to try and get back on the park, it's players who seem desperate to loiter on the train tracks.

First it was the Latrell-Mitchell-Josh-Addo-Carr-Nathan-Cleary social distancing furore - for which Cleary copped a two-week suspension this week -and now we've got players who won't take a simple flu jab to get the comp going. Do these blokes even want to get back on the field?

Mee: You pose a very good question, because it seems some of these players can't help themselves. As always in rugby league, it's a minority tarnishing the image of the whole. The vast majority of NRL players are outstanding men who go above and beyond to help their community and do what's best for the sport. But then we get the likes of Mitchell, Addo-Carr and Cleary and the anti-vaxxers led by Bryce Cartwright who go and ruin all that good work.

It's good to see the Queensland government has given the anti-vaxxers an ultimatum, take the jab or move out of the way and let the rest of the players take the field. Do you think it's fair to force those players to make this choice?

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Jenno: If they want to get paid I do. That point needs to be made. Players have been paid up to the end of May and, for all the talk of pay cuts and sacrifice, the players are yet to lose a single red cent - mind you, staff at their clubs have.

A couple of weeks ago I felt the players' dispute with the NRL was mischaracterised as a 'pay dispute'. Players in that instance weren't disputing a lack of pay, they were disputing a lack of detail which they were entitled to.

In this instance, all they are being asked to do is follow medical advice - that's it. I'm talking about advice from medical professionals, not WAGS on Instagram who apparently see their plight as something akin to Anne Frank's.

Some leading players like Wade Graham and Cam McInnes are of that opinion as well. In fact it's good to see some of the leading player voices in the game speak up in that fashion, I honestly think certain players are getting fed up with some of their colleagues.

Bryce Cartwright has become the posterboy for the issue given his partner's very public anti-vaccination advocacy prior to this poo fight. Given the Queensland government's harsher stance on the issue, he and Titans teammate Brian Kelly are posing a bigger headache for the game.

Elsewhere, players have been asked to sign a waiver and they're haggling over the wording FFS. In fairness, it should be pointed out some players, like Nathan Peats and Marty Tapau, have said not getting the jab was a preference more than a conviction and have since had it in the interests of getting the comp up.

All Warriors players and staff have been vaccinated so they can leave families behind to get a comp off the ground. If certain players don't want to jab, fine, but don't play and don't get paid. On form last year the Titans will hardly be sweating on Cartwright's availability.

Mee: I'm with you there. It's staggering how some players can sacrifice so much to ensure the competition can restart, and others simply refuse even the most basic of requests.

On the bigger picture, this seems to be just one of a number of areas the NRL still has to work through before we get to May 28.

The league still hasn't finalised a broadcast agreement, we don't have a confirmed draw and they're considering a number of rule changes, the biggest of which being the move from two to one referee. How do you feel about that possibility?

Jenno: It's a bit of a strange one. People have been calling for it for years, myself among them. In the present situation it has the added benefit of cutting costs to a huge degree.

I've seen coaches, Des Hasler and Brad Arthur among them, come out against it which is not at all surprising. Coaches, by necessity, are driven entirely by self-interest. It's why they shouldn't have any input whatsoever into rule changes.

People have campaigned for years for a reduction in the interchange. It should happen but the loudest voices against it have been coaches, largely spouting bullshit about player welfare. In reality, it would open up the game, make it less structured and therefore take more things out of coaches control, hence their opposition.

I've got no doubt there'll be some teething issues with the return to one ref, it won't be perfect, but I think the NRL needs to stand firm on it. It's been bullied by coaches for long enough. I'm a little more iffy on the 'six again' for ruck penalties. The term itself carries enough baggage but what's your take on that one?

Mee: The referee issue should be split into separate debates. Should the NRL make a monumental change to the game mid-season purely to save money? Absolutely not. Should the NRL go back to one referee? I'm not really sure. It might be wise, it might not be, but that's my point. The process to get to this point has not been adequate.

In terms of the six-again rule, it's great in theory and I've seen some commentators claim it worked well when it was trialled in the All Star game back in 2012. My memory of that game is that it did not work well at all. As you said, coaches are the most self-interested people in rugby league and I can guarantee all 16 of them have spent the past few days working through every way to dismantle this rule.

We already have teams deliberately giving away penalties on their own goal line, it's only going to increase now if they know they're not risking two points. I get the arguments for this rule, but I think we're actually reducing the penalty for wrestling. Other than reducing the interchange, what else do you think the NRL can do to eliminate the wrestle?

Jenno: Other than reducing the interchange, I really don't think there's anything else the game can do. We've already seen you can't penalise wrestling out of the game - Todd Greenerbg tried that a couple of years back and people screamed blue murder - all you can do is disincentivise it. Increasing the fatigue will do that.

You make a good point about teams giving away penalties on their goal-line, even with two points on offer. Still, that does involve a stoppage and the opportunity to get your defensive line set. Six-again doesn't give you that and it's much harder to defend 12 or 18 tackles straight than it is two or three sets of six.

There'll inevitably be some issues with it, it's just oh so rugby league that coaches are already challenging it at a time when we should just all be rejoicing at getting back on the field.

Throw in an anti-vaccination furore of all things and it just gets more staggering. It seems so often the people with the most to gain from the game can be the biggest barrier to seeing it prosper.