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The NRL has avoided a scheduling nightmare, with a last-minute deal moving the Dolphins’ date with South Sydney to Parramatta and away from the path of Cyclone Alfred.
NRL bosses confirmed on Tuesday evening that Friday night’s opening-round match would be shifted out of Brisbane and to CommBank Stadium.
The move came hours after the AFL postponed its own two opening-round fixtures in Brisbane and the Gold Coast, initially scheduled for Thursday and Saturday night.
The NRL’s situation had been complicated by the fact bosses only landed from Las Vegas on Tuesday, before immediately switching into problem-solving mode.
Dolphins officials had remained steadfast until Tuesday afternoon that the match could go ahead at Suncorp Stadium, with Souths players and match referees to fly to Brisbane on Wednesday.
But that would have presented a significant hurdle for the NRL if the cyclone did hit, given the teams would be unable to move out of the city to play elsewhere.
Instead, NRL bosses were able to have the game moved to Sydney, with the Dolphins to now fly south on Wednesday.
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The move will come as a massive relief to broadcasters, with the Nine Network banking on having a Queensland club for its first Friday night of the season.
(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)
The game will also be considered a South Sydney home match, with the move to Parramatta coming with Accor Stadium being out of action.
The round-17 clash between the two clubs will now be a Dolphins home game, albeit with Brisbane scheduled to host the Warriors at Suncorp Stadium on the same day.
Complexities around the draw also no doubt prompted the NRL’s decision, given it would have been a scheduling nightmare for the game not to be played this weekend.
While the AFL has the ability to move its season-opening fixture between Brisbane and Geelong to round three, the NRL’s draw does not allow a similar solution.
The Dolphins and Rabbitohs do not share a common bye weekend this year, meaning a mid-week fixture would have likely proven the only alternative.
That in itself would have presented problems, with players needing a five-day turnaround between matches, and no obvious dates available in the draw.
The NRL’s move to swap home games was not without its challenges.
The league has needed to hastily arrange flights, hotels and ensure broadcast availability, while also locking in training fields.
A bumper crowd had also been sold to Friday’s match, with all tickets now needing to be refunded, while there are other commercial arrangements around home matches.
All other opening-round NRL matches are set to be unaffected by Alfred, with the Broncos having already flown to Sydney on Tuesday morning ahead of their clash with the Roosters.
with AAP
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