The Queensland Government has given the green light for the NRL to move games away from Brisbane and Gold Coast this weekend, as COVID-19 restrictions ease across the state.
Crowds will return with stadiums capped at 50% capacity, starting with Thursday night’s Melbourne and Canberra clash at Sunshine Coast Stadium.
It’s the first of two games that have been shifted to the venue, with Manly taking on Parramatta for a spot in the top four on Saturday evening.
Redcliffe’s Moreton Daily Stadium will host a double-header on Sunday afternoon with the Warriors to face Canterbury before Cronulla and Newcastle battle it out for a top-eight place.
North Queensland returns to its home ground in Townsville for Saturday’s clash with the Wests Tigers.
Suncorp Stadium will host a double-header on Friday night, while South Sydney’s meeting with Gold Coast on Saturday afternoon will be the only game at Cbus Super Stadium across the weekend.
Both grounds have been under heavy traffic across the past fortnight, with Brisbane’s Suncorp hosting 10 games, with a further five at the Gold Coast venue last weekend.
While the NRL insists both grounds have held up well, they’re conscious of resting the turf considering it’s likely the rest of the season will be played in Queensland.
“Both Cbus and Suncorp have stood up really well regarding the number of games they’ve had over the past few weeks, they’re very good grounds with very good staff who spend the entire week preparing them for playing each week,” NRL’s head of football Graham Annesley said.
“We’re very aware of the need to minimise as much as possible the wear and tear and give some recovery time to those venues.
“I don’t think we can walk away from either of them, we will have to play games at those venues each week.
“But, if we can limit the number of matches at those grounds is an objective of ours.”
Venues for round 23 and beyond are yet to be finalised, with the NRL and the Queensland Government taking a day by day approach to the competition.
Meanwhile, the NSWRL confirmed on Tuesday the NRL’s lower grade competitions have been abandoned for the season.
NSW Cup, NSW Women’s Premiership, Jersey Flegg, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield have been suspended since the start of July.
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