Premier’s warning to keep NRL on edge

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk revealed the state recorded three new Covid cases overnight — two of which were locally acquired. One case is linked to the known aviation cluster and another was acquired from interstate. A third case is in hotel quarantine after returning from Egypt.Importantly, Premier Palaszczuk said “there is no unlinked community transmission”, which she described as “good news”.Watch Fox League’s massive line-up of Grand Final week coverage on Kayo including live pre-game, half-time and post-game coverage with full analysis from the best team in the business. New to Kayo? Start your free trial >This will be music to the ears of NRL chiefs, who have been preparing contingency plans for Sunday night’s Grand Final, which is scheduled to take place at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.Earlier on Friday, NRL CEO Andrew Abdo and ARLC chairman Peter V’landys refused to rule out the prospect of postponing the Grand Final should Queensland’s Covid situation worsen.NRL Grand FinalFortunately, the news delivered by Ms Palaszczuk and Queensland chief health officer Dr Jeannette Young was promising. Ms Palaszczuk was also encouraged by more than 19,000 people coming forward to get tested.The Premier said a snap lockdown has been avoided for now “because we do not have any seeding or unlinked community transmission”. However, she issued a warning that may change, saying: “If we do see any unlinked community transmission, I’m quite sure that Dr Young will not hesitate to recommend a lockdown.”A lockdown would be disastrous for the NRL as talk of postponement or relocation continues to swirl.As it stands, the game between Penrith and South Sydney will go ahead with a 75 per cent crowd capacity at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane. However, Daily Telegraph rugby league reporter David Riccio said there was a risk the crowd cap could be slashed even further if there are any more Covid-related complications.“A change in that (the Covid situation), would slash it to 50 per cent capacity,” he told NRL commentator Andrew Voss on SEN radio. “Any change in the next 48 hours, the next step would be to halve it to 50 per cent capacity.“The next step after that is the consideration for postponement.”Emergency meeting to decide Grand Final fateThe Australian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) will hold an emergency meeting today to discuss possible back-up plans for the Grand Final.V’landys remains optimistic the Grand Final will go ahead as planned as postponement firms as the more likely alternative than relocation, should it get to that stage.“We’re still quietly confident the Queensland Government is containing (the outbreak),” V’landys told 2GB on Friday.“We will have an emergency commission meeting to look at all of our options. Postponement is definitely one. We won’t take any action naturally without consulting the coaches and the two teams. But we want a crowd and if it means postponing the event to get a crowd, we will do so.“When we negotiated with the government we always had a plan B and that was to go to Townsville.“Logistically that may be hard. We’re going to make a decision on that today because you’ve got to get TV crews and OB (outside broadcast) vans up to Townsville from Brisbane.”The Daily Telegraph reports should Covid rob Brisbane of the Grand Final and it is postponed, then Sydney’s ANZ Stadium may be in line to host the game on October 17 with a 50 per cent crowd cap — which would allow for 40,000 fans. Speaking to Sunrise, Andrew Abdo reiterated the need for the NRL to be “adaptable” to whatever decisions are made by the Queensland government ahead of a crucial 48 hours.“Clearly we are very cognisant of the public health orders in Queensland, and we’re watching the decision made by the Queensland government very carefully,” Abdo said.“We want to play in front of fans, and at this particular point in time we’re all systems go for Sunday to play in front of 39,000 fans.“We need to be ready for everything and Covid has taught us that we have to be adaptable.“We’ve prepared different scenarios, and we’ll be prepared if the conditions worsen and we have a lockout.” Via news.com.au — Australia’s leading news site https://www.news.com.au