The AFL prepared to wait until Thursday afternoon to make a call on Brisbane-Geelong season opener

With the threat of Tropical Cyclone Alfred, Brisbane is urging the league to act quickly and move the AFL’s season opener on Thursday – but the league says the game won’t be cancelled yet.

The Brisbane Lions have urged the AFL to make an early call and postpone Thursday night’s season-opener in preparation for “destructive and damaging” winds from Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The league on Monday morning said it was prepared to delay a decision until only hours before the opening bounce on Thursday afternoon to assess conditions in the hope they improved.

Brisbane has made clear it wants the AFL to make an early call and shift the game to round 3 when the Cats and Lions have a bye, so long as the game was still played at the Gabba.

The Lions were backed by Queensland premier David Crisafulli MP on Monday who urged sporting associations to make an early call so fans and citizens could prepare adequately ahead of potentially dangerous conditions including 100 km/h winds.

“We are urging them (sporting groups) to make a call and communicate that (decision),” Crisafulli said.

“Today is Monday and I am mindful there are some significant things happening in the second half of the week so we are working with all of those sporting groups, clubs and the venues to allow them to make those communications.”

But the AFL on Monday said it could wait until as late as Thursday afternoon to decide on whether to go ahead with the season-opener at the Gabba as the state braces for Tropical Cyclone Alfred to cross the coastline on Thursday night or Friday morning.

The league at this stage is pushing ahead with the clash at the Gabba but will postpone the match if it becomes genuinely unsafe for players and patrons due to extreme weather.

The strong winds and intensive rainfall is expected to keep a significant number of fans at home.

Tropical Cyclone Alfred.

The AFL remains hopeful the forecast will improve.

AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said the league was in talks with authorities and the clubs and would consider several replacement options if it was postponed due to wet weather.

Dillon said the strong winds were “probably the biggest issue”.

“There are (replacement) options with byes and the like but at this stage the game is scheduled for Thursday night,” Dillon said.

“The deadline (for a decision) will be when we know what is actually going to happen (with the weather) because at the moment we are talking about forecasts.

“Those forecasts have changed (in the last 24 hours) so we will continue to work with the Queensland Government and the (weather) bureau on that.”

Will Ashcroft and Dayne Zorko at the Gabaa. Picture: Scott Powick

And Cats Patrick Dangerfield and Bailey Smith ahead of the season opener. Picture: Michael Klein

Asked if the league would like to make a final call on Thursday morning, Dillon said “it may even be later than that”.

“Weather patterns are unpredictable,” he said.

“The health and safety of our players and fans will be the number one priority in any decision we make.

“We play in rain all the time, but ultimately it is what is safe for our players and absolutely our fans going to the Gabba.”

The Cats and the Lions are scheduled to have a bye in round 3 which looms as the most likely switch if the AFL’s season-opener on Thursday night is postponed.

Dillon said Opening Round was here to stay due to the growth in the game in the northern states despite conjecture about the way it compromised the fixture for clubs.

All four games this weekend are expected to be sold-out, but the wet weather could keep thousands of fans at home on Thursday night.

Dillon also said Tasmania would enter the AFL in 2028 despite the likely delay to the construction of the new stadium at Macquarie Point in Hobart.

More to come.

Originally published as The AFL prepared to wait until Thursday afternoon to make a call on Brisbane-Geelong season opener