Dolphins players ruled out of Rabbitohs clash as Cyclone Alfred threatens their homes
The Dolphins have suffered a massive blow ahead of their season-opener against the Rabbitohs, with several star players withdrawing from the game as Cyclone Alfred threatens their homes.
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The Dolphins have suffered a setback with three key stars withdrawing from Friday’s night opener against South Sydney due to the Cyclone Alfred threat.
This masthead can reveal a number of Dolphins top-liners have voiced their concerns to coach Kristian Woolf, who has been forced into eleventh-hour changes for the relocated clash at Sydney’s CommBank Stadium.
Five-eighth Kodi Nikorima, prop Mark Nicholls and 18th man Kenny Bromwich have advised the Dolphins they will not be available for the South Sydney round 1 clash.
While he was 18th man, Bromwich would have been on standby to play if activated under the NRL’s concussion protocols.
The withdrawals have thrown the Dolphins into disarray and could put pressure on the NRL given the unfair advantage afforded the Rabbitohs.
The Dolphins flew out on Wednesday night without the trio, who have skipped the flight to stay home with their families.
Woolf finalised his revamped team on Wednesday night.
Sean O’Sullivan will replace Nikorima in the halves, Josh Kerr comes onto the bench for Nicholls and Oryn Keeley has been added to the extended 20-man squad.
Dolphins prop Nicholls was advised his home is in a danger zone as Redcliffe bosses offered to relocate families to a Brisbane hotel amid the Cyclone Alfred threat.
Queensland police have been door knocking residents in the Redcliffe and Moreton Bay regions urging them to bunker down and protect their homes in the face of a potential cyclonic disaster.
Several Dolphins players have homes in the region, including veteran front-rower Nicholls, who has relayed his concerns to Redcliffe officials as he begun fortifying his home with sandbags on Wednesday.
It is understood Nicholls, a father of three, has been told his home is in an area that could experience severe flooding in the coming days with Cyclone Alfred set to lash the Moreton Bay region and south-east Queensland.
The Nicholls development came as the wife of his teammate Nikorima slammed the NRL, labelling their handling of the Souths-Dolphins match relocation to Sydney as “disgusting”.
Not surprisingly, Nikorima has decided to pull out.
They are ructions the Dolphins can do without as they face major adversity to overcome Wayne Bennett’s Rabbitohs in their season opener.
Dolphins chief executive Terry Reader said the club is acutely aware of safety concerns, prompting Redcliffe to offer partners and children of players to be moved to the Sofitel Hotel in Brisbane’s CBD.
“We’ll work with the NRL to make sure we can go as late as possible,” Reader said.
“The players are not at the club (on Wednesday). They’re off making sure they get their things with their families and partners in order and then we fly out.
“Any of our players and travelling staff’s partners who are worried about where they are and not having their partners around, we’re going to put them up in the city here in a hotel so they’ve got a bit more security around being with each other.
“We’re really cautious about this.
“We were still putting facts together on how we could make the best of the situation for our travelling party, because it’s not just the players, we’ve also got half as many staff travelling as well who have partners and families.”
Asked if Dolphins players were given the option of missing the Souths clash, Reader said: “We’ve got a pretty close-knit group of players.
“Things like that are always taken into account and people are free to make decisions, but, like other teams, we’ve got to play a game and the boys are behind playing.
“Things move really quickly so now it’s all about making sure we put those things in place to make sure our players and staff’s families feel like they’re supported as best we can and that’s what we’ve been working to ever since the decision was made (to relocate the game).”
“Any of our players and travelling staff’s partners who are worried about where they are and not having their partners around, we’re going to put them up in the city here in a hotel so they’ve got a bit more security around being with each other.
“We’re really cautious about this.
“We were still putting facts together on how we could make the best of the situation for our travelling party, because it’s not just the players, we’ve also got half as many staff travelling as well who have partners and families.”
Asked if Dolphins players were given the option of missing the Souths clash, Reader said: “We’ve got a pretty close-knit group of players.
“Things like that are always taken into account and people are free to make decisions, but, like other teams, we’ve got to play a game and the boys are behind playing.
“Things move really quickly so now it’s all about making sure we put those things in place to make sure our players and staff’s families feel like they’re supported as best we can and that’s what we’ve been working to ever since the decision was made (to relocate the game).”
Earlier, Nikorima’s partner Bree blasted the NRL and called for the game to be cancelled in a social-media post, which was later deleted.
“Because a game of football is THAT IMPORTANT,’ she wrote on Instagram.
“I’m six months pregnant with two young kids in an area that can flood, disgusting.
“Do better NRL,” she added, publishing a ‘vomit-face’ emoji.
Asked if he understood the concerns of Nikorima’s wife, Reader said: “Absolutely.
“Everyone’s apprehensive about what’s happening. We haven’t had a cyclone here in south-east Queensland since 1990, so everyone feels apprehensive.
“We’re making sure we can do whatever we can to make people feel more comfortable and put our players and partners in the best frame of mind before they leave.”
Reader defended the NRL’s handling of the situation.
“They are part of finding accommodation to make sure whatever we can put in place before we leave to make the families feel a lot more comfortable about it,” he said.
“Again, it’s not a great situation for anyone.
Meanwhile, Brisbane coach Michael Maguire insists his players and their families are in safe hands after chief executive Dave Donaghy made a dash back to Queensland to assist with the oncoming cyclone.
The Broncos landed in Sydney on Tuesday ahead of their clash with the Roosters on Thursday night, but Donaghy has already returned to Brisbane to assist families and communications from the ground.
Residents have been warned millions could be without power for around three days thereafter.
“The club’s been really good, this is my first time to face something like this but they’ve been really proactive,” Maguire said on Wednesday morning.
“We had our chief exec come down (to Sydney) last night but he turned around and went back so he was in town making sure everyone was safe while the team is down here, they’re talking and getting out to the partners and the wives and making sure everyone is safe throughout the situation.
“The club is doing a great job in that space. It’s just a matter of waiting and seeing how it pans out, but there’s a lot of communication between the families.”
The impending cyclone has also had implications for the Queensland Rugby League, which has postponed two Hostplus Cup matches and all statewide competitions.
“To prioritise the safety of all members of the rugby league community, we’ll be re-scheduling some junior fixtures to mid-week and we will also be moving several
other Hostplus Cup and junior games to new dates later in the season,” QRL competitions manager Dave Maiden said.
The two postponed Hostplus games are Ipswich against Townsville (moved to May 10) and Burleigh versus Central Queensland (moved to August 2).
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Originally published as Dolphins players ruled out of Rabbitohs clash as Cyclone Alfred threatens their homes
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