The NRL is confident torrential rain forecast for Brisbane won’t affect the Suncorp Stadium playing surface for Magic Round despite predictions of more than 100mm in the lead-up to the showpiece weekend.
A year after the ground held up immaculately following a bruising Super Rugby AU final in which patches were torn apart by scrummaging, Suncorp Stadium officials are bracing for another challenge with adverse weather in Brisbane all week.
Rain is predicted in the River City all week, with the worst of it due to arrive on Friday, when two of the eight matches will be played. The Knights and Bulldogs will be hoping to climb off the bottom of the ladder before the Sea Eagles and Brisbane meet.
But the NRL insist they have no concerns for how the ground will cope with all eight matches as they ponder the future of the Magic Round concept, which is set to be held for the third time.
“We’ll just keep monitoring the weather and Suncorp Stadium has got one of the best drainage systems in the league,” NRL head of football Graham Annesley said. “It’s a major stadium with full-time ground staff.
“It usually gets brought up this time of year before Magic Round and people ask, ‘is the ground going to stand up to it?’ And it always does. From our point of view, we’re not concerned about it. It’s too early to tell if the weather is going to become a factor.”
A Parramatta fan at the 2021 Magic Round in Brisbane.Credit: NRL Imagery
Asked about the ground’s ability to recover after the recent flooding in south-east Queensland and northern NSW, Annesley said: “That’s why they’re a major venue for major events. Magic Round is going to go ahead, it’s going to be a great event and it’s close to a sellout on all three days. It’s not going to be a drama.”
NSW government officials are lobbying for Magic Round to be played in Sydney in future years with the soon-to-be-opened Sydney Football Stadium the logical venue if the footy festival is taken away from Brisbane.
The Panthers-Storm top-of-the-table clash will be the highlight of the three-day extravaganza, which will be the last match of a Saturday triple header. All tickets are already sold out for the second day.
Penrith co-captain Nathan Cleary was quick to grab to the tag of underdog for the match after the Storm swept aside the in-form Dragons on Sunday.
Asked whether Melbourne deserved to be favourites, Cleary said: “I’d say so.
“It’s going to be a belter. I think every game against them shows what type of rivalry we have, and it will be similar to [against the Eels]. We’ve got to improve from [Friday] night and learn our lesson.
“It was nice to win [the preliminary final against Melbourne last year], but then again it was last year. This is a whole new ball game and they’re playing red-hot at the moment. I don’t think anyone has even been close to stopping them the last few weeks. It’s a good challenge, but that also brings opportunities as well.”
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