The NRL has avoided an opening-round postponement, moving the Dolphins’ clash with South Sydney away from Cyclone Alfred’s path and to CommBank Stadium.
As the AFL opted to postpone matches in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast this weekend amid cyclone warnings, the NRL began working on its own contingency plans.
The Dolphins had been confident as late as Tuesday afternoon the game could go ahead at Suncorp Stadium as planned.
But their players are now expected to fly to Sydney in a bid to avoid the cyclone, allowing the prime-time Friday night fixture to go ahead.
South Sydney’s home ground of Accor Stadium is unavailable because of a motor-racing event, prompting the game to instead be taken to Parramatta.
The round-17 match between the Dolphins and Broncos will now become a Dolphins home game, likely to be played at Suncorp Stadium.
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The move will come as a massive relief to broadcasters, with the Nine Network banking on having a Queensland club for its first Friday night of the season.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
Complexities around the draw also no doubt prompted the NRL’s decision, but Rabbitohs CEO Blake Solly says it is a commonsense decision that protects the safety of all involved.
“Firstly, we hope everyone in Queensland and northern New South Wales are staying safe and following the advice of authorities with regards to protecting themselves in the face of Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” Mr Solly said.
“The advice we received from the Queensland government was to move the game and we have been able to accommodate the move.
“With us now hosting the Dolphins in Sydney for round one, it means our return game against the Dolphins in round 17 will be played in Queensland.
“We have worked closely with the Dolphins, the NRL and Venues NSW to ensure the game goes ahead and we thank them for their positive approach to moving this game to Sydney.
“We will communicate with our Members and supporters over the next day to let them know how they can attend this game to support their team, and we thank them for their patience as we put together this event at the last minute.”
While the AFL has the ability to move its season-opening fixture between Brisbane and Geelong to round three, the NRL’s draw does not allow a similar solution.
The Dolphins and Rabbitohs do not share a common bye weekend this year, meaning there would have been no easy round for a match to be moved to.
The other option would have been to fly the Rabbitohs to Brisbane on Wednesday, as had been the plan at one point this week.
But that would have left both sides stuck in Brisbane if the cyclone hit, needing to hold out and wait to see if the game could be played at any other point over the weekend.
– with AAP
