Just days out from the end of the season, a fresh Covid-19 scare may force the NRL to rethink its back-up plan for Sunday’s Grand Final.
A spanner has been thrown into the works of the NRL Grand Final after further restrictions were introduced in Queensland because of the growing Covid-19 outbreak.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announced six new locally acquired cases of coronavirus in the past 24 hours and revealed some areas of the state are going back to stage two restrictions for two weeks. The areas include: Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Townsville, Logan and Palm Island.
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The Grand Final between Penrith and South Sydney is scheduled to take place at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on Sunday night but the new restrictions mean crowd capacity will be cut to 75 per cent.
As part of the state’s restrictions, no more than 30 people will be allowed in homes and there’s a cap of 100 attendees at wedding and funerals. The development also means a one person per four square metres cap in restaurant and cafes and a requirement for those at hospitality venues to remain seated while eating and drinking.
Additionally, a positive case in Townsville means the NRL’s back-up plan has been affected too. The league had earmarked Townsville as its “Plan B” should a Covid-19 outbreak in the Queensland capital spark a lockdown that would prevent supporters from attending the match.
Earlier this week the NRL was optimistic the Grand Final would still be able to go ahead in Brisbane and Daily Telegraph rugby league writer David Riccio said if a change to Townsville was required, then it could be confirmed as late as Friday.
“We know the back-up option is Townsville, but speaking to the NRL they can wait until Friday,” Riccio told SEN 1170’s Andrew Voss on Wednesday.
“It seems late, but they have full confidence that even if they waited to Friday they could read it and still sell-out in Townsville.”
Whether that is still the plan remains to be seen.
Queensland authorities are racing to stop the virus from spreading from a truckie who failed to check in to eateries and hotels in the inner city for over a week, while a Brisbane woman is understood to have tested positive to Covid late on Wednesday night after visiting a northern NSW hotspot.
Queensland chief health officer Jeannette Young has refrained from plunging the region into its sixth snap lockdown, despite 18 active cases and the number of exposure sites increasing within days.
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