COVID-19 Update: 2 July 2021

Embed from Getty Images

A quick look at the impacts of current COVID-19 outbreaks around Australia and what they mean for this weekend's rugby league competitions.

NRL

• Round 16 is set to proceed in full, but with signficant changes.
• The Roosters v Storm match (Thursday) has been relocated to McDonald Jones Stadium in Newcastle. A reduced capacity crowd will be permitted.
• The following matches will be played in front of no crowds: Warriors v Dragons (Gosford, Friday); Panthers v Eels (Bluebet, Friday), Bulldogs v Sea Eagles (Bankwest, Saturday), Wests Tigers v Rabbitohs (Leichhardt, Sunday)
• Tickets for Raiders v Titans (Saturday, GIO) will stop sale on Friday at 6pm.
• The Knights v Cowboys match (Saturday, McDonald Jones) will be held in front of a reduced capacity crowd. Tickets are currently off sale.
• Broncos v Sharks (Sunday, Suncorp) is currently proceeding as scheduled, with Queensland's three-day lockdown due to end on Friday.
• Round 17
  • Sea Eagles v Raiders (Thursday, 4 Pines), Bulldogs v Roosters (Saturday, Bankwest) and Sharks v Warriors (Sunday, Kogarah) are to be confirmed. If they remain at their home grounds and the NSW lockdown does not lift, they will be played at empty venues.
  • Rabbitohs v Cowboys (Friday, Stadium Australia) will be played in front of no crowd.

NSWRL

• The NSWRL has cancelled the next two weeks of competition for all grades within the lockdown area - KOE NSW Cup, Jersey Flegg, Ron Massey Cup and Sydney Shield, along with Mojo Homes Illawarra Cup. Matches involving teams not affected by lockdown in Newcastle's Denton Engineering Cup will proceed.
• All matches cancelled will be assigned a 'COVID Draw' with each team receiving a point each for the competition table.
• Semi Finals in the Harvey Norman Women's Premiership will be delayed til July 17, with the Grand Final pushed to July 24. This will impact NRLW training which is due to commence July 12. As a result the finals series has been truncated from 6 teams to 4, and will be played over two weeks.

QRL

• UPDATE 2 July: Parts of Brisbane have had lockdown extended, and as such the QRL has made the call to postpone both the ISC and HDC competitions to the spare weekend of 24-25 July. No games this weekend.
• ORIGINALLY 29 June: Both Intrust Super Cup and Hastings Deering Colts are currently set to continue as scheduled this weekend, with Queensland's three-day lockdown scheduled to end on Friday.

All information above is subject to change. While we will endeavour to update this information as it comes to hand, we recommend checking NRL.com, QRL.com.au and NSWRL.com.au for any late breaking updates.