The racing industry in Queensland and New South Wales has been heavily impacted by the arrival of Cyclone Alfred with a host of meetings being postponed and cancelled.
The category two storm, which is set to make land on parts of southern Queensland on Thursday evening, has already forced the NRL to relocate the Dolphins fixture against the Rabbitohs which had been due to be played on Friday at the Suncorp Stadium.
The NRL has since relocated the game to the CommBank Stadium, with the fixture now due to be played as a Rabbitohs home match.
On Wednesday, Racing Queensland announced contingency plans for races in the south-east of the state, canceling all harness racing meetings until next Monday.
Greyhound racing at Albion Park has also been abandoned until Sunday, March 9.
The Magic Millions March Yearling Sale has been rescheduled for March 24-25.
A host of race meetings in Queensland and NSW have been postponed and cancelled
The Cyclone is due to make landfall on Thursday evening and will bring with it gusts of 120km/h and potential flash flooding
‘The two-week delay will be required so the sale can be held safely on the Gold Coast,’ Magic Millions Managing Director Barry Bowditch said.
‘We want to be able to provide certainty to all of those involved in the auction with Cyclone Alfred approaching the South East Queensland coast.
‘Magic Millions will always place safety for our participants and horses first and while changes will always create issues, this delay is necessary.
‘We thank our breeders, vendors, buyers and all other parties for their understanding at this time and we wish all people in the affected areas the best over the coming days.’
Elsewhere, Racing NSW has cancelled the Grafton race meeting for Thursday.
‘In making this decision, Racing NSW is placing the safety of people front of mind, including participants in the racing industry as they prepare to mitigate against any damage from the cyclone,’ read a statement.
‘Racing NSW is also maintaining a watching brief on race meetings scheduled for Ballina on Saturday, March 8 and Coffs Harbour on March 10.’
According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the Cyclone will bring gusts of 120km/h, heavy rainfall and is also threatening flash flooding.
Kristian Woolf is reportedly set to be without multiple Dolphins stars for Friday night’s re-arranged fixture against the South Sydney Rabbitohs including Kodi Nikorima (pictured)
Bree Nikorima the wife of Dolphins star Kodi Nikorima, has lashed out at the NRL on social media
The Dolphins will be without a multitude of stars for Friday night’s re-arranged fixture against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with a trio of players opting to ‘skip’ the match due to Cyclone Alfred.
According to The Sydney Morning Herald, senior players Kodi Nikorima, Mark Nicholls and Kenny Bromwich have all pulled out of the clash against the Souths.
The trio did not fly with the squad who left for New South Wales on Wednesday evening.
It comes after Nikorima’s partner, Bree, labelled the decision to relocate the match, instead of cancel it ‘disgusting’.
In a now-deleted post on Instagram, the mother of two, who is also six months pregnant, wrote: ‘Because a game of football is THAT IMPORTANT.
‘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 AFL star Lachie Neale yesterday told AFL360 that he would not have travelled to play, if Brisbane’s now-cancelled match against Geelong had been relocated.
Lions skipper Lachie Neale (pictured) said he would not have travelled to play if Brisbane’s now-cancelled match against Geelong had been relocated to Melbourne
Neale insisted that he would not have left his young family behind in Queensland, with the category two storm approaching.
‘I think my first opinion on that would have been I wouldn’t have played, I would have stayed here with Jules and the kids, and we have a dog here as well,’ the 31-year-old said to AFL360.
‘Unless they were willing to fly families as well — which on pretty short notice I’m not sure they could have organised that — but if they were able to fly families out of town and we could have sorted out the dog, then I would’ve done it.
‘But I wouldn’t have left Jules [Neale’s wife] here with our three-year-old daughter and a 10-week, 11-week-old little boy.
‘I wouldn’t have played.’
