State of Origin III is in serious doubt to be held in Sydney after the NSW government enacted a two-week lockdown in parts of the state on Saturday.
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The ARL Commission will hold a crisis meeting on Tuesday where it will decide whether to play NRL games in Sydney as scheduled without crowds or relocate the matches to outside of locked-down areas.
The location of Origin III, which is set to be held on July 14 at Stadium Australia, will also be discussed.
ARLC chairman Peter V’landys confirmed to AAP that the blockbuster event is in extreme doubt considering it is set to be played just five days after the lockdown is scheduled to finish on July 9.
“It’s just after the lockdown,” he said.
“Basically if you look at previous (lockdowns) they take a while to go back to normal, it takes a few weeks to reduce restrictions.
“If you look at Melbourne, their lockdown finished two weeks ago and they’ve only just allowed 50 per cent crowds.
“There’s always a time lag from the end of the lockdown to when they start reducing the restrictions.”
The NRL has acted accordingly already this year, moving the State of Origin opener from Melbourne to Townsville while Victoria was in lockdown at the start of June.
Moving the third game of the series out of Sydney would avoid playing one of the game’s showpiece events in front of a reduced crowd.
That decision would be particularly crucial if it is a decider, which could attract a sell-out crowd.
Jarome Luai and Nathan Cleary. (Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
V’landys refused to assure that the match would be held in NSW if relocated despite the first two games being held in Queensland, saying the commission would consider the best financial option for the game.
“We’ll look at all options and we have to look at the financial viability of it too,” he said.
“The Townsville one was very financially beneficial for us, so we have to look at that.
“Naturally we want to minimise the losses we will incur.
“Having no crowds will be a big hit on us.
“We need to do everything in our power to minimise the losses, wherever there’s an opportunity to take it.”
On Saturday afternoon the NRL was holding high-level meetings to determine the impact of stay at home orders for residents in Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong until July 9.
Currently, 10 of the NRL’s 16 teams reside in those areas.
Decisions on relocating games and bubble restrictions hinge on negotiations with Queensland and Victorian state governments.
The regular NRL competition is set to resume on Thursday when the Sydney Roosters host Melbourne in Newcastle, which has already been shifted from the Sydney Cricket Ground.
There are three more games scheduled for Sydney next weekend as well as the first two games of round 17, which also fall into the lockdown period.
“The lockdown helps us, because with less people moving around, there’s less risk for the players to catch the virus,” V’landys said.
“Even though we’ve got our protocols, people aren’t moving around which helps our cause.
“This is a greater challenge than last year because it’s so much more contagious.”
The latest concerns for the competition come as NSW and Queensland prepare to play Origin II in Brisbane on Sunday night.
Paddy
Guest
Newcastle for sure. They are passionate about rugby league, It’s not all about money.
Dave
Guest
Melb have had it before Why not take the opportunity to take it to a state where you know it will be successful but otherwise will never usually get the opportunity to host I’d also take an educated guess that the WA government would actually pay more for the chance than Vic would
PB Meister
Roar Rookie
When NSW win this series, that will make it 3 wins out of the last 4. Call it what you like, but the era of QLD domination is over… :happy:
Train Without A Station
Roar Guru
I can only think maybe less tourism benefit if nsw border is closed
Walter Black
Guest
If capacity limits (currently 25,000) are lifted, why wouldn't they ?
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
For the followers who missed the second half of last year, and for those who intended to attend Origin 1 there.
Cam
Roar Rookie
Vlandy's will care little and less about neutral venues or NSW's turn to host. If he is guaranteed a bigger crowd and larger gate, he'll load the teams into SpaceX and play the match on the moon. And to be fair, NSW looked so good in Game 1 that they won't be too worried about playing the entire series in Qld.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
If NSW win this year’s series, their media & fans will claim the start of another dynasty I.e. one series win in a row. NSW seem to have great difficulty grasping the meaning of the word “dynasty”. Perhaps they should consult Queenslanders for an accurate explanation.
Dave
Guest
Why Melbourne? Adds nothing
PB Meister
Roar Rookie
Yep. 3 ZIP in QLD. That's sticking the knife in deluxe :silly:
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
Exactamundo, all about the money. Maybe a little bit of V'Landys making a statement saying he can get thing's done despite all the hurdles. Little bit of ego boost on the line here.
JOHN ALLAN
Guest
Can’t see it being cancelled. Worth too much money to the NRL. PVL will find a solution. Even if it has to be played on another planet which is free of Covid. Although some would be ineligible due to temperature & gravity issues.
Big Daddy
Roar Rookie
If that happens I suppose they might have to look at cancelling. I'm just not sure any state apart from Qld would want to take it on. If the state locks down and the NRL want to proceed it reeks of desperation and putting sport ahead of the health of the community.
Kerry Hanson
Guest
Only the commi d I c k running the state has done so .
Maxim
Roar Rookie
The game 3 should be held in Russia in Moscow.
Tim Carter
Roar Pro
Newcastle > Canberra > Melbourne > Perth
Ben Lewis
Roar Pro
Newcastle. It’s gotta be Newcastle. Anybody saying it shouldn’t be in NSW is out of their minds. As long as it’s viable considering the latest outbreak, Game III has to be in NSW. Having 2 games in Queensland and the last game in a “neutral” state is almost farcical.
Dave
Guest
Newcastle > Canberra > WA
Johan
Guest
Perth deserves nothing but contempt. They have traeated the rest of the the Federation poorly and thus they deserve nothing.
Dwanye
Roar Rookie
NZ?