Sunday's NRL Grand Final is on red alert, with a fresh COVID outbreak threatening to derail the season climax at Suncorp Stadium.
South Sydney Rabbitohs and Penrith Panthers will contest the championship decider, but the NRL is poised to shift the fixture to Townsville, with the Queensland Government considering a Brisbane lockdown.
NRL.com reports the NRL and Queensland Government are locked in "crisis talks", while Nine Network claims the potential move to North Queensland has already been penciled in.
Two community cases were discovered in Brisbane on Monday night, sparking quick action from ARL commissioner Peter V'Landys.
"We are talking to the government," V'landys has told the Courier Mail.
"At this stage, it is not a concern, but we will know more as the day unfolds.
"The Grand Final won't stay at Suncorp if there is a lockdown, but at this stage, there isn't one, so we have to hope and pray there isn't a lockdown."
V'landys says Townsville was always locked in as a ‘Plan B’, if the Queensland Government blocked the final going ahead in Brisbane.
"There are two cases, but they are husband and wife, so hopefully it can be well contained.
"We will see what happens later today. I don't have too much information at this stage."
The NRL Grand Final is traditionally played at Sydney's Stadium Australia, but with New South Wales battling a Delta variant outbreak, the competition was relocated to Queensland, with Suncorp Stadium locked in as the new venue.
More than 50,000 people are expected for the NRL Grand Final north of the border.
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