Dolphins decimated in NRL cyclone chaos as club gets ‘unfair advantage’

The Dolphins will be without several key players for Friday’s relocated NRL game as the fallout from Cyclone Alfred sparked heated debate.

The Dolphins are set to be without a trio of veteran players who have opted not to travel to Sydney for Friday’s relocated game against South Sydney to stay with their families as they brace for Cyclone Alfred.

The NRL confirmed on Tuesday that Friday night’s game between the Dolphins and Rabbitohs had been moved from Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium to CommBank Stadium in Parramatta in light of the risk posed by Cyclone Alfred.

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It will be a Rabbitohs home game and the round 17 match between the two clubs will now become a Dolphins home fixture.

The decision to go ahead with the game has divided opinion and forced a change to the Dolphins’ line-up.

Code Sports reports five-eighth Kodi Nikorima, prop Mark Nicholls and 18th man Kenny Bromwich have told the Dolphins they will not be available for the Round 1 clash.

The report states the withdrawals have “thrown the Dolphins into disarray” and prompted discussions over whether the Rabbitohs will have an unfair advantage.

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.

The Dolphins will be without Kodi Nikorima, Kenny Bromwich and Mark Nicholls.

The Rabbitohs are missing Latrell Mitchell and Cameron Murray to long term injuries but Wayne Bennett’s side will go into the clash as favourites given the Dolphins’ difficult week.

“If the Dolphins end up missing the eight by two points then all of a sudden this scenario becomes so critical,” Fox League’s James Hooper said on NRL 360.

News Corp’s David Riccio added: “When you have five players, and that’s only now, potentially pulling out of a match, it’s now an unfair advantage.”

The Courier Mail’s Peter Badel told NRL 360 “several of the wives are filthy”.

Badel said: “There’s been some major issues internally with players and staff trying to organise logistics around family and childcare — and basically uprooting their lives for 24 to 48 hours to make sure this game goes ahead.”

Kodi Nikorima’s wife Bree is one of several partners believed to be “filthy” the game is going ahead. Picture: Richard Walker

Nikorima’s pregnant wife Bree criticised the NRL for allowing the game to go ahead given the circumstances.

She posted on Instagram: “Leaving the families behind to ride out the direct line of cyclone alone. Some with no support at all.

“I’m 6 months pregnant with 2 young kids in an area that can flood, disgusting.”

“Do better @nrl,” she added with a vomit emoji.

But Bennett, a Queenslander who has returned to South Sydney after two seasons at the helm of the NRL’s newest club, was adamant league officials made the right call.

“If it had have been called off, you find fault with us. If we put it on, you find fault with us,” Bennett said of the criticism.

“They have done the right thing. It’s important to everyone involved in the game, the fans, the TV stations … we go back there, they are playing our home game there later in the year. I think it was a great decision.”

Rabbitohs coach Wayne Bennett has backed the decision to play the game. (Photo by Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images)

Bennett said his former players impacted by the oncoming cyclone would “handle it” but also said it was a “Dolphins issue” when questioned about the potential impact on them.

“They’ll handle it. They got on the plane yesterday and have 17 guys who are keen to play,” he said.

“They are a wonderful club, they will do their best with whoever they put on the field.

“I don’t see any advantage to anybody. It all equals itself out.”

He said the shift had had little impact on the Rabbitohs.

“It hasn’t really impacted our preparation because we didn’t have to get on the flight,” he said.

“The thing worrying me most was that it would be on, it would be off, players wouldn’t know where they stood. We got ourselves organised, the NRL came in and gave us more clarity. It hasn’t impacted on us.”

Bennett has handed club debuts to halfback Jamie Humphreys, Lachlan Hubner and Jayden Sullivan.

(LtoR) Lachlan Hubner, Jamie Humphreys, Jayden Sullivan ahead of their game against the Dolphins. Photo Jeremy Piper

As for the AFL, Brisbane Lions premiership star Lachie Neale told Fox Footy’s AFL 360 this week he “wouldn’t have played” if Brisbane’s game against Geelong had been moved from Brisbane to Victoria.

“I would have stayed here (in Brisbane) with (wife) Jules and the kids,” he said.

“Unless they were willing to fly families as well, which on short notice I’m not sure if they could have organised that (accommodation).

“If they were able to fly families out of town and we could’ve sorted out the dog, then I would have done it. But I wouldn’t have left Jules here with our three-year-old daughter and an 11-week-old little boy.”

The AFL has postponed both Thursday’s Brisbane vs Geelong and Saturday’s Gold Coast vs Essendon game, but the league is yet to announce when those matches will be rescheduled.

AFL great Matthew Lloyd told Nine’s Today on Thursday: “We understand here that there are bigger things at play and football is very secondary this morning.”

— With NCA Newswire

Originally published as Dolphins decimated in NRL cyclone chaos as club gets ‘unfair advantage’