Fans have been left divided on social media following the NRL’s decision to relocate the Dolphins’ clash against the Rabbitohs at the Suncorp Stadium due to the threat of Cyclone Alfred.
While some have criticised league bosses for not postponing the match entirely, claiming they have ‘put broadcasters above the integrity of the competition’, others have argued the decision was ‘better than cancelling the match’.
On Wednesday, it was revealed by The Sydney Morning Herald that three Dolphins stars, Kodi Nikorima, Mark Nicholls and Kenny Bromwich, had all indicated they would not be travelling with the squad on Wednesday night for the relocated match.
With Cyclone Alfred set to make land in Queensland on Thursday night, bringing with it 120km/h winds, up to 800mm of rain and potential flash floods, the NRL chose to move the match to the CommBank Stadium in Sydney.
Some players were reluctant to leave their families behind for the opening round fixture, with Nikorima’s partner Bree, who is six months pregnant, hitting out at the NRL for the ‘disgraceful’ decision not to postpone the game entirely.
‘Because a game of football is THAT IMPORTANT,’ she wrote in a now-deleted Instagram post.
Multiple Dolphins stars, including Mark Nicholls (L) and Kenny Bromwich (R) have reportedly opted out from travelling to Sydney for this Friday’s re-arranged NRL clash against the Souths
Kodi Nikorima has also opted not to travel for the match. It comes after his partner Bree (right) hit out at NRL bosses on sodial media branding the call to not postpone the match ‘disgusting’
The Australian Bureau of Meteorology believe the Cyclone could smash the Queensland coast with 120km/h winds, torrential rainfall and flash flooding
‘Leaving the families behind to ride out the direct line of cyclone alone. Some with no support at all.
‘I’m six months pregnant with two young kids in an area that can flood, disgusting.’
‘Do better @nrl,’ she added, publishing a ‘vomit-face’ emoji.
It comes as the AFL has opted to postpone both of its opening round fixtures between Brisbane and Geelong and Gold Coast and Essendon this week, with safety concerns mounting over the category two storm.
And some footy fans have hit out at the NRL on X on Wednesday evening, questioning why the league didn’t cancel the Dolphins-Rabbitohs clash.
‘What about the player’s families? Why can’t they stay home to be with their family during this time? Postpone the game!’ one wrote on X in reaction to the news that multiple Dolphins stars would not be travelling.
‘NRL got this wrong. It’s unfair on the players and the families,’ another wrote.
‘Think the AFL got this right and did the right thing in postponing matches. Can’t blame the players for staying back, it’s only a game of Footy at the end of the day,’ one said.
Footy fans have taken to social media to criticise the NRL’s decision not to postpone the Dolphins’ game against the Rabbitohs
Some went as far as criticising the NRL for making the decision in order to appease broadcasters.
‘The @NRL yet again putting broadcasters ABOVE the integrity of our competition,’ one wrote on X. ‘The sooner we stop bending over backwards to appease our broadcasters, the better.’
‘Don’t blame them it’s selfish of the NRL to not postpone, football games are easy to reschedule. There is more to life than sport during times like this,’ another said.
On Tuesday, the NRL delivered its reasoning as to why the game had been moved.
‘The NRL has made the decision today to allow for the appropriate changes to be implemented and acknowledges and thanks both the Dolphins and the Rabbitohs for their approach and co-operation,’ the NRL said in a statement on Tuesday.
‘The NRL said the safety of players, fans and the community were the highest priority when considering the venue change.’
And some fans offered a different take, arguing it was ‘smart’ to relocate the game instead of cancelling.
Some supported the matter, with one claiming that players were being spolied by being allowed to opt out of playing the match
The Dolphins published a message on their Instagram story on Wednesday urging fans and members of the Queensland community to ‘take care’ and ‘stay safe’
It is understood that the Rabbitohs will now play their home leg of the tie this Friday while the Dolphins will play at home when the teams are next due to meet in round 17.
‘Very smart move. Better than cancelling!’ one X user said on the decision to relocate the game.
‘Common sense prevails,’ another said.
One claimed that the Dolphins’ players were being spolied by being allowed to opt out of playing.
‘So should emergency services not do shifts right now to stay at home. Course not,’ the X user wrote. ‘NRL players being spoilt . Lots of other guys in qld cup ready to take there contracts.’
‘The ‘cyclone’ is a small one. It will be a Low when it crosses land. North QLD deals with far worse higher category cyclones every year,’ another wrote.
The Dolphins, meanwhile, have been looking to ensure that family members and relatives of those members of the club travelling to New South Wales would be well supported during the cyclone.
Welfare teams have been supporting family members by providing them with temporary accommodation so that relatives could be secure together when the cyclone arrives.
The NRL said: ‘the safety of players, fans and the community were the highest priority when considering the venue change’ (pictured NRL boss Andrew Abdo)
Queenslanders have been banding together to prepare for the cyclone with 120km/h winds expected
Flash flooding and 800mm of rainfall is expected over the coming few days, as Cyclone Alfred approaches the coast
Dolphins boss Kristian Woolf has named his team to play against the Rabbitohs on Friday after his squad travelled to Sydney on Wednesday
‘We looked at every contingency that we could – playing possibly on Sunday, or even on the Sunshine Coast or the Gold Coast… we looked at many things to try to make it happen,’ chief executive Terry Reader said.
‘Because of the broadcast agreement and the way things work, thankfully, we were able to come up with something to move it.
‘Everyone’s apprehensive about what’s happening… and we’re really cautious about what’s happening.’
‘We were still putting facts together on how we could make the best of the situation for our travelling party because it’s not just the players, we’ve also got half as many staff travelling as well who have partners and families.’
Reader was also pressed on whether the Dolphins players were given the option to miss the game against South Sydney this week.
‘We’ve got a pretty close-knit group of players,’ he said.
‘Things like that are always taken into account and people are free to make decisions, but, like other teams, we’ve got to play a game and the boys are behind playing.
‘Things move really quickly so now it’s all about making sure we put those things in place to make sure our players and staff’s families feel like they’re supported as best we can and that’s what we’ve been working to ever since the decision was made (to relocate the game).’
