Penrith and South Sydney may be required to fly-in, fly-out on grand final day if fresh COVID-19 outbreaks force the game’s showpiece event to relocate from Brisbane to Townsville at the last minute.
Thousands of ticket-holders will be locked out of Suncorp Stadium after Queensland Public Health Orders reduced capacity to 75 per cent for the NRL showpiece, meaning only 39,000 fans can attend. However, there are fears the game could be shifted from Brisbane altogether if more cases are detected through south-east Queensland.
NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo has publicly stated that a final decision on where the game will be played must be made by close of business on Friday, although sources with knowledge of the situation believe that deadline could now be extended to Saturday.
There are few impediments to a later shift from a broadcast perspective given Nine – the publishers of this masthead – have contingency plans in place. An outside broadcast truck has already been sent to Townsville, while the show will be hosted from studios at North Sydney. The sideline commentators – including Johnathan Thurston, Cameron Smith and Emma Lawrence – could fly in on the day of the game if required.
The NRL, which is beholden to the Queensland government’s health advice, won’t be out of pocket regardless of whether the match is played with or without spectators at Suncorp or Queensland Country Bank Stadium. The Australian reported that the government is liable for any losses under the terms of the deal struck with Rugby League Central, which requires them to make up the difference should gate takings diminish as a result of playing at a smaller venue, or with a less than capacity crowd.
Regardless, the NRL is desperate for as many fans as possible to be present for the showpiece event.
“We are not going to play…