NRL forced to move Dolphins-Rabbitohs clash as Cyclone Alfred threatens Brisbane
The NRL has dramatically moved its Friday night blockbuster between the Dolphins and Souths away from Brisbane, as Cyclone Alfred threatens to batter Queensland.
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The Dolphins have applauded the NRL’s decision to relocate their Souths clash to Sydney as Brisbane bosses pledged to protect the families of Broncos stars amid the Cyclone Alfred threat.
Redcliffe players will fly out on Wednesday night after the NRL dramatically moved its Friday night blockbuster between the Dolphins and Souths from Brisbane to Sydney.
Rather than play at the scheduled Suncorp Stadium, the match will now be played at Parramatta’s CommBank Stadium at 8pm NSW time.
Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader was in a series of urgent talks on Tuesday with Queensland Premier David Crisafulli and NRL boss Andrew Abdo.
Crisafulli didn’t mince words when he advised: “It is a really rare event for southeast Queensland but it is serious and it is happening.”
Heeding those weather warnings from the Queensland government, the Dolphins were forced to quickly book flights and accommodation in a turbulent build-up for Redcliffe’s season opener.
But Reader has no issues with the eleventh-hour upheaval, with the Dolphins-Souths return bout in round 17 to be shifted from Sydney to Suncorp to satisfy Redcliffe’s membership demands.
“The key concern here has always been the safety of our players, staff, members and fans,” Reader said.
“We have worked in directly with the Premier to stay up to date on the situation to ensure that would happen.
“It has been a good result to move the game to Sydney away from the danger of the cyclone, and also ensure that our members will have a home game back in Brisbane against the Rabbitohs in round 17.
“We would like to thank the Rabbitohs and NRL for working with us to achieve this outcome for the game.”
An NRL statement read: “The NRL has made the decision today to allow for the appropriate changes to be implemented and acknowledges and thanks both the Dolphins and the Rabbitohs for their approach and co-operation.
“The NRL said the safety of players, fans and the community were the highest priority when considering the venue change.”
The Dolphins’ Brisbane rivals the Broncos left the River City on Tuesday, as originally planned, to bunker down in Sydney for Thursday night’s season opener against the Roosters at Allianz Stadium.
Cyclone Alfred could lash southeast Queensland while Brisbane stars are in the heat of battle against the Roosters, raising concerns for the families of Broncos players.
Broncos chief executive Dave Donaghy said the club’s welfare team were on high alert and had provided key information to families while Brisbane players were away in Sydney.
“We’re approaching this with caution,” Donaghy said.
“We’re making sure all of our staff, players and families have all the information to be safe if and or when the cyclone hits.
“We’ve got contact lists and everyone has all the information they need. We’ll just keep an eye on the weather information over the next few days.
“We’re playing Thursday and the cyclone is scheduled to hit Friday, so they might be home by then.
“Our welfare people are all across it, they are the best in the business and we’re making the families have everything they need to be as prepared as they can for the next few days.”
Souths chief executive Blake Solly said the safety of players, staff, members and supporters was paramount.
“Firstly, we hope everyone in Queensland and northern NSW are staying safe and following the advice of authorities with regards to protecting themselves in the face of Tropical Cyclone Alfred,” Solly said.
“The advice we received from the Queensland Government was to move the game and we have been able to accommodate the move.
“With us now hosting the Dolphins in Sydney for round one, it means our return game against the Dolphins in round 17 will be played in Queensland.
“We have worked closely with the Dolphins, the NRL and Venues NSW to ensure the game goes ahead and we thank them for their positive approach to moving this game to Sydney.
“We will communicate with our members and supporters over the next day to let them know how they can attend this game to support their team, and we thank them for their patience as we put together this event at the last minute.”
The AFL has postponed two round one games to be played in Queensland.
Rather than reschedule those games to other days in round one, the AFL is expected to move them to round three.
A Souths statement read: “Rabbitohs members and supporters will receive communications from the South Sydney club over the next 24 hours regarding member seating and ticket availability.”
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Originally published as NRL forced to move Dolphins-Rabbitohs clash as Cyclone Alfred threatens Brisbane
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