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A 'strong core group' of NRL players are anti-vaxxers who will defy orders from the league to get a flu shot, a high-profile WAG claims.

Taylor Winterstein, wife of former Penrith second-row Frank Winterstein, said the number was 'more than a handful' and would 'seriously surprise you'.

On Wednesday, she came out in support of Bryce Cartwright, who told Gold Coast Titans doctors he would refuse the jab.

Also offering Cartwright support was Jade Grant, partner of Canterbury-Bankstown star Sione Katoa, saying she was 'always standing with you'. 

Daily Mail Australia contacted Katoa's representatives to clarify if he shared his partner's anti-vaxxer views and would refuse to be immunised. 

Jade Grant, partner of Canterbury-Bankstown star Sione Katoa (pictured together with their son) declared herself to be an anti-vaxxer

 Taylor Winterstein, wife of former Penrith second-row Frank Winterstein (pictured with their children), said the number was 'more than a handful' and would 'seriously surprise you'

Players who refuse to get a flu shot face being banned from the league for the whole year.

The vaccination is part of the league's strict biosecurity protocol - mandated to all 480 players across the NRL's 16 clubs - to reduce the risk of the coronavirus spreading when the season resumes on May 28. 

Vaccinations protect against numerous diseases and there is no evidence they cause harm to those injected with them.

'Yes! Love you guys always standing with you,' Ms Grant commented on an anti-vax post by Cartwright's wife Shanelle.

Ms Grant reposted photos by Ms Winterstein and Ms Cartwright expressing similar supportive sentiments, along with a meme mocking flu vaccinations.

'Trying to figure out how an vaccinated person can give a disease to a vaccinated person if vaccines work...' the meme caption read.

Ms Grant added: 'Brains (sic) hurting hard today. If everyone's got their flu shot, aren't they protected?'

'Yes! Love you guys always standing with you,' Ms Grant commented on an anti-vax post by Shanelle Cartwright, wife of Gold Coast Titans star Bryce Cartwright (pictured with his son)

Ms Grant reposted photos by Ms Winterstein and Ms Cartwright expressing similar supportive sentiments, along with a meme mocking flu vaccinations

Ms Winterstein on Wednesday claimed there were numerous NRL players with the same beliefs

'The truth is, there are more than just a handful of us,' she wrote in a lengthy Instagram post.

'There is a strong core group of families - current, former and retired NRL players, from all different NRL clubs, who proudly stand for medical freedom and informed consent.'

Ms Winterstein, who has also claimed the coronavirus 'PLANdemic' is a scam, said she personally knew of many players who opposed vaccinations. 

'I know these families personally - they're intelligent, respected, high profile and well-informed when it comes to making educated decisions for their loved ones,' she wrote.

'Most of these NRL players and their partners just want to live in peace, and be able to have the freedom to choose what they feel is best for their own children.'

Ms Grant is among several WAGS who have supported Cartwright's refusal to get the flu shot mandated on all clubs by the NRL

Daily Mail Australia contacted Katoa's representatives to clarify if he shared his partner's anti-vaxxer views and would refuse to be immunised

The WAG claimed anti-vax players like Cartwright may be 'forced' to go public with their controversial views.

'They may have to come out publicly to protect their basic human rights and not be forced into vaccinations every year in order to play or get paid,' she wrote.

'The irony is that the NRL strongly emphasise the importance of players understanding what ingredients are in the daily supplements/products they ingest.

'But when it comes to vaccines they're meant to inject into their bodies, the NRL have a different set of rules regarding this product.'

Ms Winterstein claimed many players were pushed into getting flu jabs, leaving them 'feeling manipulated, coerced and pressured into a medical procedure'.

'We have players in the NRL right now who have vaccine-injured children,' she claimed without any medical evidence or expertise.

NRL star Bryce Cartwright with his wife Shanelle and their son Koa, two. She has written an impassioned defence of her opposition to vaccinations - saying she does not even give either of her two children Panadol

Ms Cartwright even claimed her children's 'picture of health' proved she and her husband's decision not to vaccinate them was working. 

Defiantly challenging the overwhelming weight of medical science, Shanelle Cartwright refuses to give her children Koa, two, and Naia, one, Panadol, or get them vaccinated. 

Her decision is not only risky to her children, but to the entire community, with vaccinations vital to reducing the spread of preventable diseases. 

Anti-vaxxers spread false and dangerous theories, such as vaccines cause autism, based on a completely discredited 1998 medical report that saw the author struck from the medical register. 

Before vaccination campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s, diseases such as tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough killed thousands of children, whereas today in Australia, dying from one of these is extremely rare. 

Cartwright, 25, could be being banned from the NRL after telling team doctors he will refuse a compulsory flu shot.

He will have the opportunity to fight any potential suspension, but would have to explain his stance to NRL chief medical officer Paul Bloomfield.

Bryce and Shanelle Cartwright are pictured together. He has refused to follow the NRL's call for all players to vaccinate ahead of the league's return

Addressing the scrutiny around her husband's refusal to be given the jab, Mrs Cartwright defended their right to 'choose the medical procedures they undergo'.

'Our kids are a picture of health,' Mrs Cartwright wrote in an Instagram post on Tuesday evening.

'They've never had an ear infection, never had a chest infection or bronchitis, they have no neuro-developmental disorders or auto-immune disorders and are rarely ever sick.

'They've never had a round of antibiotics are any other pharmaceutical drug for that matter.'

Alongside the post, she shared a photo of her footy star husband holding their youngest child.

She said she and her husband were doing the best with the knowledge they had at their disposal, while hitting out at those who had dubbed her family 'anti-vaxxers'.

Mrs Cartwright (pictured with her husband) said the couple were doing the best they could for to ensure the health of their children with the knowledge they had at their disposal 

Alongside the post, she shared a photo of her footy star husband holding their youngest child

'What we're doing is going seemingly well seeing the state of their health,' she said. 

'If it's not clear, we're not 'anti' anything. We stand for medical freedom and the right to choose.'  

Her Instagram post came as the ARLC chairman Peter V'landys and commissioners were due to meet on Tuesday night to decide what to do with players who refuse to get the flu jab.

Those players could be asked to sign a waiver if they're allowed to play without the vaccine. 

Titans head of performance and culture Mal Meninga confirmed Cartwright's fate would be decided by the NRL and not by the club.

Cartwright (pictured with his eldest child and wife at his 2018 wedding) faces the risk of a NRL ban due to the couple's controversial stance on vaccinations

'It's going to be interesting to see how that's handled. We're all waiting on the chief medical officer's opinion,' he told the Daily Telegraph on Tuesday.

'I imagine the government chief medical officer would be reluctant to allow those players to come into camp.'

The Australian and Queensland rugby league legend supported the strict new measures, despite the threat of Cartwright being sidelined.

'We're in the bubble under really strict biosecurity measures. The game relies on these measures to be enforced,' Meninga said.

Cartwright's wife stood by his decision when she took to Instagram on Tuesday.

Shanelle Cartwright took to Instagram to share an anti-vax message  after her husband indicated to club officials that he will refuse to get the flu jab

'No jab, no job,' Shanelle captioned a screenshot of a news article regarding NRL anti-vaxxers.

'It might not be relevant to you now but bet your bottom dollar this will be the new normal if we don't stand up now.'

Cartwright's Titans teammate Nathan Peats has also jumped to his defence on Instagram. 

Mr V'landys warned there would be sanctions for players who don't follow the guidelines when Project Apollo protocols were launched last week.

'There will be sanctions. We've got no option, there must be a deterrent because one reckless act will bring down an entire competition and the livelihoods that come with that,' he said in a statement.

'We will continue to work with the RLPA about what those sanctions will be for individual players.'

Project Apollo Chair Wayne Pearce added: 'These protocols will be tough, but they need to be to ensure player, staff and community health and safety.'

Mrs Cartwright admitted to followers in an Instagram Q & A last year that convincing her husband to see the what she misguidedly believes are the 'harms of vaccination' had 'taken some work', but he eventually came around.

'I remember he [Bryce] was so defensive when I first brought it up and got angry at me for even suggesting that we shouldn't vaccinate,' Mrs Cartwright said at the time.  

When asked by one follower whether she vaccinated her eldest son, Mrs Cartwright said she was firmly against injecting her children.

'He's not vaccinated - none of our babes will be,' the young mother replied.

As a follow-up question the glamorous WAG was asked whether this would affect her children going to school.

Bryce Cartwright (right in grey jumper) returned to training on Monday to prepare for the NRL's return

But Mrs Cartwright said if unvaccinated children were one day banned from schools she already had a contingency plan in place.

'They can go to school (so far)... if the law changes, I'll home school before I vaccinate,' she said. 

The couple have received backlash after they came out as anti-vaxxers.

Health authorities have warned that not immunising children threatens the public's 'herd immunity' against disease.

'Immunisation is a safe and effective way to protect you and your children from harmful, contagious diseases. It also safeguards the health of other people, now and for future generations,' the Australian government's health department says.

'Before vaccination campaigns in the 1960s and 1970s, diseases like tetanus, diphtheria, and whooping cough killed thousands of children. Today, it is extremely rare to die from these diseases in Australia.' 

Footy WAG anti-vaxxer is slammed for absurd claims that coronavirus is a scam, doctors and nurses are lying about how hard they're working and that getting vaccinated is the same as injecting bleach  

Brittany Chain for Daily Mail Australia 

A controversial anti-vaxxer and the WAG of a former NRL player has ludicrously claimed that coronavirus is a scam and doctors are lying about how hard they're working to save lives.

Taylor Winterstein became the face of the anti-vaccination movement after she revealed in 2019 she would not immunise the children she shares with former Penrith Panthers footballer Frank Winterstein.

Most recently, she has fixated on the COVID-19 crisis and is determined to disprove its legitimacy.   

Although absolutely none of her claims are scientifically proven, Winterstein insists she has 'collected the crucial information needed to help break the coronavirus SCAMdemic.' 

Taylor Winterstein became the face of the anti-vaccination movement after she revealed in 2019 she would not immunise the children she shares with former Penrith Panthers footballer Frank Winterstein (pictured together)

Some experts predicted upwards of 70,000 Australians could be infected in the early days of the pandemic. So far, 6,847 people have been diagnosed and 5,863 have recovered

In the bizarre claim said she said she had based her 'evidence' on the success Australia has had in flattening the COVID-19 curve and avoiding mass casualties.

'The projections were wrong... The theoretical modelling was wrong around the world,' she said.

Some experts predicted upwards of 70,000 Australians could be infected in the early days of the pandemic. So far, 6,847 people have been diagnosed, and 5,863 have recovered. 

Australian authorities closed non-essential services, like bars, pubs, cinemas and gyms on March 23, closed the international borders and told people to stay indoors to slow the spread of the virus.

Winterstein preaches her anti-vaccination message to more than 46,000 followers on Instagram

Pictured: One of Winterstein's coronavirus posts - where she described lockdown as 'house arrest'

The early action taken appears to have successfully minimised the impact of the virus. 

Meanwhile the United States, the UK and parts of Europe have counted devastating casualties totalling close to 200,000 people combined.

Globally, there are 3.6 million known cases of coronavirus and at least 252,407 deaths. 

At least 1.2 million people have recovered from the deadly respiratory infection, an indication, according to Winterstein, that COVID-19 is a scam.

'When the recovery rate for patients 'diagnosed' around the world is four times higher than the death rate... you know this is a scam,' she said. 

Winterstein also claimed healthcare workers were not working as hard as they wanted the average Australian to believe.  

'Healthcare workers are losing shifts or their jobs because there is no work to do,' she argued.

'The reality is hospitals are not overrun and many wards are completely empty.' 

Winterstein based her information off private messages she had received from people claiming to be healthcare workers sharing their own experience. 

Winterstein and her family are based in France at the moment, where her husband is playing football after his contract in Australia's NRL was not renewed

She said the government's decision to lockdown the nation was not to 'help the healthcare workers' as advertised, but was an attempt to 'manipulate the masses' and 'use this PLANdemic to justify fast-tracked vaccines and vaccine mandates.'

In a dangerous comparison, Winterstein told her followers President Donald Trump's suggestion to inject bleach - which would undoubtedly kill a human - was the same as a standard vaccination.  

'Anyone outraged by this clearly has NOT read a vaccine package insert,' she wrote. 'Do you understand exactly what ingredients you've already been injected with if you chose to vaccinate?'

Overnight, Winterstein, who followed her husband to France to play football after his contract was not renewed in Australian league, shared an Instagram post sharing fellow anti-vaxxer Bryce Cartwright.

The Gold Coast Titans back-rower, 25, refused to follow the NRL's call for all players to get the flu shot before the game's scheduled return on May 28.

Winterstein said she supports his decision and urged other players to educate themselves on the 'harms' of immunisation. 

In a dangerous comparison, Winterstein told her followers President Donald Trump's suggestion to inject bleach - which would undoubtedly kill a human - was the same as a standard vaccination