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Gabba good to go for Saturday night

30th March, 2017
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Deemed unsafe ahead of last week’s AFLW grand final, the Gabba is expected to recover in time for Brisbane’s opening AFL home game against Essendon on Saturday night despite torrential rain caused by Cyclone Debbie.

The Lions, rivals Gold Coast plus namesake NRL team Gold Coast were all affected on Thursday due to heavy showers and flooding, as southeast Queensland braced for up to 500mm of rain.

The Lions only received the official green light on Monday for the clash after the controversial decision to relocate the AFLW decider last weekend to the Gold Coast.

However, a question mark again loomed over the game due to the miserable conditions in the cyclone’s aftermath.

The worst of the heavy rain plus strong winds of up to 100km/h are expected on Thursday night.

All AFL Queensland senior and junior matches across southeast Queensland this weekend have been abandoned.

However, a Lions spokesperson said they were confident the weather – expected to ease on Friday – would not cause problems.

“It will still go ahead,” she said.

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“The Gabba surface has excellent drainage.”

The Lions are still no closer to getting onto their home ground.

The women’s Brisbane side were denied access when the AFLW decider against Adelaide was relocated to the Gold Coast to protect new Gabba turf, laid to repair damage from two Adele concerts and prepare for November’s first Ashes cricket Test.

The men’s team have been left frustrated after not being allowed to train on the surface, despite Gabba management giving the all-clear for the Essendon match.

They had been preparing at their Coorparoo training base but, due to wet weather, tried to relocate to a Yeronga ground in Brisbane’s south, however, that was also washed out on Thursday.

Brisbane are not expected to access the ground on Friday morning, meaning they might run out on the Gabba for the first time when they line up against the Bombers.

The wet caused the Suns on Thursday to close their Gold Coast base.

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“Due to extreme weather conditions, our elite training and administration base will be closed for the remainder of the day,” the Suns tweeted.

NRL club the Titans can empathise after receiving a rude shock when they arrived on Thursday for training.

“Tough conditions to train today,” the Titans tweeted with a picture of their flooded Parkwood International field.

Gold Coast players were restricted to a gym and video session indoors.

“I saw a video on Facebook this morning about the field being under water and didn’t really believe it until I got here,” Titans halfback Ash Taylor said.

The Titans look set to remain indoors until they fly out on Friday for Sunday’s clash with the Warriors in Auckland.

The wild weather also forced the suspension of the Australian Surf Life Saving championships on the Gold Coast on Thursday “until further notice”.

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