Coronavirus: PM Scott Morrison backflips over going to ‘beloved Sharks’ NRL game

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backflipped on his plan to watch his “beloved Sharks” play their first NRL game of the season.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has backflipped on his decision to watch the Sharks play in the NRL, saying he would now no longer attend.

On Friday the PM said he would attend the Shark’s first NRL match despite his own advice banning mass gatherings of more than 500 people which will take effect on Monday.

The decision sowed confusion among Australians as to why the ban was called in the first place if the PM would only start following the advice on Monday.

On Friday evening, a spokesman for the Australian leader said “after further consideration” he had decided not to attend the match after all.

“The PM made the point the advice was being introduced after the weekend so the medical experts could finalise their arrangements and that there was no serious immediate health risk to Australians attending such events over the weekend. This advice will be considered by the new National Cabinet, to be chaired by the Prime Minister, on Sunday,” a spokesman said.

“The PM did not want to create any unnecessary alarm as a result of these proposed new arrangements.”

“After further consideration and the potential for the Prime Minister’s attendance to be misrepresented, the Prime Minister has chosen not to attend the match this weekend. The Prime Minister believes this would avoid any unnecessary confusion about his attendance.”

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The prime minister at Shark Park for round 10 against Manly last year. Picture: Matt King/Getty Images

Back to watch his team for round 22. Picture: Joel Carrett/AAP

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Earlier, the PM announced the government would advise against large organised gatherings as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.

“We will be advising against organised non-essential gatherings of persons of 500 people or greater from Monday,” he told reporters this afternoon.

“That of course does not include schools, it does not include university lectures, it does not mean people getting on public transport or going to airports or things of that nature.

“These events that we are seeking to advise against and restrict are non-essential, organised gatherings of 500 persons or more.”

Mr Morrison is loud and proud about his support for the Cronulla Sharks, who will play their round one game against the South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium at 5.30pm tomorrow.

Then Cronulla captain with Scott Morrison in July 2019. Picture: Craig Golding/AAP

Cronulla's Wade Graham at a game against the Bulldogs. Picture: Brett Costello

He previously said he would be going to match as “it might be the last game I get to go to for a long time,” the Prime Minister said.

The impassioned reactions to Mr Morrison’s comment came thick and fast on Twitter.

So the PM is going g to the football in the meantime. What an example to set for the nation. Safe now. Dangerous Monday. Bizarre.

— Barrie Cassidy (@barriecassidy) March 13, 2020

Oh wow he really is still going to the football this weekend.
Has he learnt nothing?

He's going on Sunday, then saying those gatherings shouldn't be held on Monday...

"My beloved sharks. It may be the last game I get to go to for a long time." https://t.co/t1hTv3YyPi

— Angela Priestley (@angelapriestley) March 13, 2020

The Prime Minister is SO stubborn that he won’t shut down major gatherings until Monday so his stupid comment about going to the football this weekend doesn’t have to be retracted. This is infinitely worse than his Hawaiian adventure. I absolutely can’t believe his behaviour!

— Peter van Onselen (@vanOnselenP) March 13, 2020

My god, he’s still talking about going to the football on Saturday because this policy kicks in on Monday. This is astonishing.

— Amanda Heffernan (@chalkhands) March 13, 2020

Scott Morrison laughing and then confirming that he still plans to go to the footy on Saturday before banning gatherings of 500+ people two days later will be in the history books one day.

— Denham Sadler (@denhamsadler) March 13, 2020

So @ScottMorrisonMP advises people to not attend non-essential gatherings of 500+ people, but says he’s still going to the @Cronulla_Sharks game?#donnydont #doasidontsay#coronavirusaustralia #covid19australia pic.twitter.com/hLdtftGFOs

— Adam Kidd (@adam_the_kidd) March 13, 2020

Are you serious Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP just said it’s ok to go to large scale football games this weekend because he wants to see his beloved @Cronulla_Sharks team play (as it may be last time for a while) before crowd restrictions of 500+ start on Monday 🤔#Covid_19 pic.twitter.com/FPDlI6sTY1

— Clayton Oates (@Clayton_Oates) March 13, 2020

Scott Morrison going to the football because it's the last time he might be able to support his "beloved Sharks" for a long time is patently outrageous. They're my beloved Sharks too. My tickets will be in the bin. His duty is to the nation, not his #1 ticketholder status.

— Elliott Brennan (@elliott_brennan) March 13, 2020

The prime minister was asked whether NRL games will be played “behind closed doors” after this weekend.

He said the state and federal governments were setting the “ground rules” for future events but senior management at each sporting code would have to take it from there.

“I’m sure that (NRL chief executive) Todd Greenberg and others from the AFL, I’m sure they’ve been considering various scenarios that they would have to work through as to how their competitions would run under this type of arrangement,” Mr Morrison said.

“And I’ll leave those decisions to them as to how they put those in place.

“We run many things, sitting at this table at the moment. But the NRL and AFL aren’t one of them.”

He made the remarks after today’s COAG meeting of leaders in Sydney.

Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk earlier said she was planning to head to the new $290 million Townsville stadium tonight for a showdown between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys.

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The prime minister watching the Cronulla Sharks take on the Penrith Panthers. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Federal chief health officer Professor Brendan Murphy said they expect to see “a few more cases of community transmission” by Monday.

“There’s no immediacy about this but we need to get ahead of the curve so the recommendation was Monday and the premiers and the Prime Minister,” he said today.

“It wouldn’t have mattered if they had made a decision one or two days either side; it was felt that that was a reasonable time to progress.”

The PM with Sharks player Chad Townsend. Picture: Jonathan Ng

The Sharks against Canberra. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Prof Murphy said the advice against gatherings is not an outright ban but should help Australia “get ahead of the curve on this coronavirus outbreak”.

“All international evidence suggests that if you have some community transmission, the way in which it can be spread more rapidly is in very large events,” he said.

“You might only have one or two people at a very large event who might be carrying the virus, and the chance of it being spread at those large events accelerates the rate of progression of this virus.”