Crowd numbers to be cut at NRL after social distancing flouted at Sunshine Coast match
The Melbourne Storm are demanding a review into the Sunshine Coast stadium’s crowd management practices after pictures of Sunday’s game show an apparent lack of social distancing.
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Crowd numbers could be slashed by 1200 at the Sunshine Coast Stadium after concerns were raised over the apparent lack of social distancing at a match on Sunday.
Pictures and screenshots of the Melbourne Storm vs Newcastle Knights game on Sunday afternoon at the council-owned stadium showed crowds of people packed onto the eastern hill, despite the stadium being under 50 per cent capacity.
Currently, the stadium’s COVID-safe plan allows for 3000 spectators to sit on the hill, but Sunshine Coast Council Sport Venue Manager Grantley Switzer said that could be significantly reduced.
“We’re having those conversations with Queensland Health this afternoon to go over our revised plan, but we’re looking at a reduction of up to 40 per cent,” he said.
“That’s a significant drop on people on that hill from Saturday onwards.”
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Mr Switzer said he was confident the majority of things had gone right at Sunday’s game, but was working with all authorities to ensure social distancing was maintained when the Melbourne Storm take on the Canterbury Bulldogs this weekend.
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the NRL had told her office they would reduce crowd sizes by 1000 at future games, including this weekend’s match.
“I want to commend the NRL for taking that very swift action and letting my office know this morning that they will be reducing the numbers by 1000,” she said on Monday.
Chief Health Officer Dr Jeannette Young said a review was the right call to ensure social distancing at future games.
“It’s hard to maintain social distancing when sitting on the ground, but people were trying to do that,” she said.
“The venue manager and the NRL have been fantastic with working with us.
“As far as I could see, everyone did the right thing but we’re working through how we can make it a bit safer. It’s harder to contact trace when you’ve got people sitting on a hill (compared to traditional grandstand seats).
Following the game, the Melbourne Storm, who are based on the Sunshine Coast, said they were demanding a review into crowd management before this weekend’s game against Canterbury.
It comes as Queensland Police confirmed they would investigate the social distancing practices of the crowd.
Very much looking forward to going back into lockdown in Queensland in two weeks when this “social distancing†comes back to bite us all. What’s doing there? #nrlstormknights #SocialDistancing 🤔 pic.twitter.com/IGMvU4blBj
— Ed Jackson (@edjacko) August 2, 2020
The NRL immediately came under fire as the televised game clearly showed thousands of people sitting together, however it is believed the eastern hill was at 43.5 per cent of usual capacity.
The Storm are demanding a probe before they play again.
“Melbourne Storm have requested Sunshine Coast Stadium review its crowd management practices and capacity before the home game against Canterbury this Saturday,” the club said.
“The stadium operates under a site-specific COVID-safe plan approved by Queensland Health, including having police in attendance.
“(The) attendance of 5437 was inside the 50 per cent capacity approved by Queensland Health for sporting events of this nature in Queensland.”
Queensland Health had five officials on site monitoring for COVID-19 compliance and did not raise any concerns.
A police spokesman said they would follow up with management and Queensland Health about numbers and social-distancing practices.
“QPS will be following up with the management of Sunshine Coast Stadium and Queensland Health in relation to attendance numbers and social-distancing practices of the crowd at today’s Melbourne Storm and Newcastle Knights game to ensure compliance with the Chief Health Officers directives,” he said.
It came hours after premier Annastacia Palaszczuk and Chief Health Officer Dr Jeanette Young warned Queenslanders against complacency following the outbreak of a small cluster in south Brisbane.
Dr Young reminded Queenslanders that social distancing was one of the key measures to prevent further spreading of the coronavirus.
“I strongly encourage people to stay 1.5 metres away from other people as much as possible, wash your hands with soap and water or hand sanitiser often, and leave a location if it is crowded,” she said.
“If people aren’t doing the social distancing … leave. Come back at another time.”