{"id":94111,"date":"2021-07-02T01:30:31","date_gmt":"2021-07-02T01:30:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94111"},"modified":"2021-07-02T05:57:37","modified_gmt":"2021-07-02T05:57:37","slug":"state-of-origin-finale-could-move-outside-nsw","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=94111","title":{"rendered":"State of Origin finale could move outside NSW"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V'landys<\/a> says a decision on a venue for the third State of Origin<\/a> match is expected this afternoon, admitting it's not certain to be held in New South Wales.<\/p>\n

Stadium Australia was due to host the match on July 14, but V'landys says that's all but certainly off the table given Sydney's recent COVID-19 outbreak. The city is in lockdown<\/a> until at least July 9, and recorded another 31 local cases this morning.<\/a><\/p>\n

"We'll make a decision this afternoon," V'landys told Radio 2GB's Ben Fordham.<\/p>\n

"We're realistic, I don't think we'll be able to have it at (Stadium Australia),<\/p>\n

"It is only four or five days after the lockdown and there is always a lag between opening everything up and the lockdown so I would be surprised if (Stadium Australia) would be allowed to have a crowd."<\/p>\n

With Queensland having hosted the opening two matches of the series, after Game One was moved from Melbourne to Townsville, V'landys admitted the prospect of Queensland hosting all three games isn't out of the question.<\/p>\n

"Money talks and we need to maximise our returns," he said.<\/p>\n

"We are going through COVID and it puts a strain on our finances. We have a lot of new expenses in order to keep the competition going so anywhere we can get revenue we must look at it and be responsible.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"Everyone's having a crack.<\/p>\n

"Three in Queensland would be a first but at this stage we want to keep it in NSW." <\/p>\n

Newcastle's McDonald Jones Stadium remains the favourite to host the match, in what would be the first Origin match in regional New South Wales.<\/p>\n

"We are looking at various options," V'landy said.<\/p>\n

"We would like to keep it in NSW and Newcastle is certainly one of the areas we are looking at.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/omny.fm\/shows\/ben-fordham-full-show\/peter-vlandys-sets-sights-on-newcastle-for-origin\/embed<\/a><\/p>\n

"We have had some pretty positive discussions with government and hopefully we will be able to make a decision this afternoon."<\/p>\n

"We have had a variety of other people wishing to have the game – interstate organisations and governments – so we are looking at every option but our aim is to repay the loyalty of our Newcastle fans.<\/p>\n

"It is a rugby league heartland and if we can get things ticked off on by the NSW Government, I am pretty confident that we will have it at Newcastle."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australian Rugby League Commission boss Peter V'landys says a decision on a venue for the third State of Origin match is expected this afternoon, admitting […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=94111"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":94113,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94111\/revisions\/94113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=94111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=94111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=94111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}