Gold Coast sport events cancelled due to Covid lockdown

School-age teams at the statewide Confraternity Shield rugby league carnival are in a race against time to escape Brisbane before SEQ goes into lockdown. LATEST Covid IMPACTS ON YOUR SPORT HERE >>>

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FORTY-EIGHT schools from across Queensland face a race against the clock to escape Brisbane before southeast Queensland enters a snap locked from 6pm Tuesday.

Schools from as far north as Cairns are in Brisbane this week for the Confraternity Carnival – the Catholic and independent Secondary Schools rugby league competition which was last year cancelled due to Covid-19.

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During play on Day 2 of the competition at Iona College in Wynnum, a message came over the loudspeaker confirming the carnival would end once the current games being played had concluded.

With southeast Queensland – as well as Townsville, Magnetic Island and Palm Island – headed for a three-day lockdown, schools from outside SEQ have been left scrambling for a way out of Brisbane before the 6pm deadline.

St Patrick’s College Mackay teacher Chad Buckby said he and the St Pat’s staff were scrambling to find a way home for their students after learning the carnival had been cancelled.

The school had both a boys and girls team competing at the carnival.

“We’re in the process of contacting parents at the moment,” Buckby said.

“We’ve got a hire bus here so whether or not we can bring that home (is unknown yet). It’s a logistical nightmare as you can imagine.”

Buckby said the school had been told their flights booked for later in the week could not be changed.

In a statement released on Tuesday afternoon, Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League President Peter Elmore confirmed the carnival’s cancellation.

“The 2021 Confraternity Carnival has been cancelled due to the COVID-19 lockdown in southeast Queensland,” Elmore said.

“The Carnival ended after the completion of the final boys’ pool matches today. The final siren sounded at about 12.40pm.

“The committee of the Queensland Independent Secondary Schools Rugby League made the decision following the Premier’s announcement that a three-day lockdown would begin at 6pm tonight for southeast Queensland and parts of the wider Townsville region.

“It is with much sadness that we end the Carnival, however the health of safety of our participants is our focus at all times.

“Schools are urged to decide on their next steps with many different scenarios among the 50 competing schools. Each school will make its own decisions on what’s best for their students and coaching staff.

“We thank everyone who has worked so hard for this Carnival. We have enjoyed an outstanding three days, beginning with Sunday’s opening Mass and ceremony.”

Marymount College sending Rugby League teams to Confraternity Shield at Iona College in Brisbane next week (June 28). Joseph Nelson, Aston Bai and Jacob Follett ready to go. Picture Glenn Hampson

The Gold Coast Titans NRL moved quickly to enact the NRL’s ‘Apollo code’ on Tuesday, cancelling a scheduled press conference with players Patrick Herbert and Toby Sexton.

The club has gone back into a bubble but will still be free to play the Canberra at home this Saturday, with the Raiders likely to fly in on the day of the game and straight back out.

Gold Coast are scheduled to have a bye the week after, meaning they won’t play a Sydney team for at least a fortnight.

AFL Queensland said in a statement that this weekend’s QAFLW grand final between Bond University and University of Queensland was still to go ahead.

“As per advice from the Queensland Government, all AFL Queensland community football fixtured matches this coming weekend, including the Bond University QAFLW Grand Final, will procced as scheduled,” the statement read.

“In the event the restrictions are extended beyond 6pm Friday, an update will be provided.

“School Holiday Programs will not be run during the lockdown period. For programs due to be run Wednesday, participants will be offered the second day in next week’s camps, provided there are no restrictions.

A national under-17 carnival is also due to be played on the Gold Coast next week.

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Southport Sharks VFL assistant and former AFL player Matthew Lappin has been forced to postpone his school holiday Australian Rules clinics that were due to be held on Wednesday and Thursday.

Gold Coast mayor Tom Tate said he hopes the Gold Coast Marathon event can still be held without cancellation or major changes but conceded he would be guided by health authorities.

“That is another hard one. When you run a marathon you can’t put a mask on.,” Tate said.

“I will be guided by the health authority. If it is reduced in reduced in numbers or whatever covid plan they have, I support as close to normality as possible.

“I have got to be guided by the medical officer.”

Basketball Queensland has announced the rest of the Under-12 State Championships as well as the upcoming Under-14 Boys State Championships have been cancelled due to the snap Covid lockdown.

All games at the Under-12s tournament, at Logan’s Cornubia Park Sports Centre and Mt Warren Sports Complex, following the 12pm timeslot will not go ahead to allow parents and families time to prepare for the lockdown, a Basketball Queensland spokesman said.

“While the lockdown is not in place until 6pm tonight, we want to give our participants and families as much time to prepare for the lockdown as possible,” the spokesman said.

“The 12pm games that have already commenced will be allowed to finish.”

A decision has not yet been made on how or if a winner will be announced for each division.

Basketball Queensland have also made the tough decision to cancel the Under-14 Boys State Championships, which was set to start in Toowoomba on Friday.

“The tournament was due to begin this Friday, however with the lockdown in place until at least 6pm on Friday we will not be able to proceed,” the BQ spokesman said.

“We are reviewing the status of the Under-14 Girls State Championships.”

The Under-14 Girls State Championships are scheduled to take place in Mackay on July 7-10.

Football Gold Coast has had to cancel all senior and junior training sessions this week but will, at this stage, forge ahead with Premier League and Coast League games on Saturday and Sunday.

Friday night Coast League clashes have been shifted to the weekend.

Tweed Seagulls’ promising season on a knife’s edge

TWEED Seagulls’ best start to an Intrust Super Cup season in recent memory is in serious jeopardy as the only NSW-based team in the competition prepares to navigate southeast Queensland’s snap three-day Covid lockdown.

Should Round 12 of the Intrust Super Cup go ahead as fixtures this weekend, the Seagulls will be without at least their Titans-affiliate players for Sunday’s game against Souths Logan Magpies at Davies Park in Brisbane.

“We are impacted by NRL clubs going into the level four Covid bubble so we won’t have any of our allocated Titans for at least the next two weeks,” Francis said.

“That’s our most recent information.

“The Titans and other NRL clubs are discussing potential options for players to come in and out of the bubble but that would require the support of different levels of government and neither us, the Titans or NRL have any control over that.”

A more serious concern for the Seagulls however will be the general availability of players, with Francis estimating a quarter of the club’s Intrust Super Cup and Under-20s players lived on the NSW side of the border.

The club had previously planned to train on the Gold Coast for the rest of the week prior to Sunday’s clash with Souths Logan, though that was before the three-day lockdown was announced.

The Seagulls do not have a fixtures home game at Piggabeen Stadium until August 7.

Francis said the part-time nature of state league football meant that if the competition continued but the club’s NSW-based players were made unavailable for selection due to any future border closures, the Seagulls would have to make do with those based in Queensland.

“We’re looking at options around that at the moment. We obviously have to be cognicent of our players being part-time and their work and family commitments wouldn’t make (hubbing in Queensland) an option.

“We’ll be able to field a team, but obviously the competitiveness would suffer (with fewer players to choose from).

“It would be disappointing because at the moment we’re sitting third on the table and we believe we have a highly competitive roster.”

MORE TO COME.