Coronavirus fears force Melbourne Storm to relocate to Sydney

Storm players could be forced to spend a fortnight or more in Sydney after being relocated to prevent a COVID-19 domino effect.

Melbourne Storm players and officials will relocate to Sydney. Picture: Getty Images

Melbourne players and officials could be forced to spend a fortnight or more in Sydney after the game took the extraordinary step of relocating the entire club to prevent a COVID-19 domino effect with the potential to threaten the competition.

The NRL, acting on the advice of their Project Apollo panel and biosecurity experts, spent the day locked in talks with the Storm over the club’s immediate future following the latest spike in the number of cases in ­Victoria.

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The decision was ultimately made to move the Storm to ensure any risk was removed from the competition. Melbourne were scheduled to host the Warriors on Friday night and then fly to Sydney to play the Sydney Roosters in round eight.

The Warriors and Roosters are drawn to face Brisbane and North Queensland after that, which had the potential to create a ripple effect given the Queensland government’s strong stance on COVID-19.

Melbourne players and officials will be called upon to undergo COVID-19 testing before they board a plane for NSW, most likely on Wednesday. The developments in rugby league come only a matter of days after the AFL announced that Essendon player Conor McKenna had returned a positive test to coronavirus.

Storm officials were hastily attempting to arrange accommodation and training facilities on Monday night to ensure they could prepare for Friday night’s game against the Warriors, which has been moved to Jubilee Stadium in Sydney.

The players were informed late on Monday of the impending relocation, the decision reached after Victoria announced a spate of positive tests in recent days and the Queensland government ruled that anyone from the southern state would be forced into quarantine for 14 days once they enter Queensland.

“We have our Apollo medical panel and experts who review data and risk for us on an ongoing basis,” acting NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said. “They met yesterday and they met again this morning. Based on the Queensland Health protocols and our own risk assessment, it was determined that it would be appropriate to relocate the Storm match from Melbourne to Sydney this Friday.

“There are a few reasons. One is to protect the safety of the players. It is not just the Storm, but the Warriors as well because they were planning to fly into Victoria.

“And first and foremost we need to comply with the state protocols. We have said all along the safety of players, the competition and the community is first and foremost. So it made sense to relocate that game to Sydney given how high the infection rate is in Victoria at present.

“We will make a call on what happens following this weekend once we have more information around what is happening in Victoria.” Storm chief executive Dave Donaghy said the health and safety of players and staff was always the club’s No 1 priority.

“While our members and fans can’t yet come to AAMI Park to watch us play, it is still our home ground and any decision to move matches away from it needs careful consideration,” Donaghy said.

“The fact that we have some COVID-19 hotspots in Victoria has made it difficult for our team and visiting teams to continue playing at AAMI Park in the short-term. We will continue to work with the NRL and our government partners on the scheduling of future matches.”

On a busy day for the NRL, the governing body also elected to move Thursday night’s game between Penrith and South Sydney to Jubilee Stadium amid concerns over the state of the surface at Campbelltown Stadium.

Manly pair Tom Trbojevic and Dylan Walker are facing a month or more on the sidelines after suffering injuries in their win over Canberra at the ground on Sunday afternoon. Only hours after Penrith chief executive Brian Fletcher told The Australian he would seek assurances around the state of the surface, the NRL announced the game had been relocated.

“We have looked at the surface as recently as last week, as we do with all surfaces,” Annesely said on Monday.

“So it has been on our radar, but the weather didn’t help the situation over the weekend.

“Clearly the conditions, those sort of conditions can affect any game.

“Of course, we’re always concerned about player safety. We want them to play on the best possible surface and just given the wear and tear Campbelltown has been under since we’ve come back from our break, (the Panthers-Rabbitohs game was moved) to give the players the best possible opportunity to play on a surface that’s going to do the game justice.”