The Canberra Raiders are making arrangements to shift into a dedicated hub on the Gold Coast by Wednesday, where they will be based for at least the next month.
The Sydney Morning Herald today reported the Canberra Raiders will be based on the Gold Coast for the next four weeks, playing their home games out of Cbus Super Stadium alongside the Eels, Bulldogs, Rabbitohs and Warriors.
The Panthers, Knights and Roosters will be on the Sunshine Coast while the Dragons, Sharks and Tigers will be in Brisbane.
The affected clubs will be flown on charter flights to Queensland and comply with Apollo Protocols and public health requirements.
Every club will be permitted a maximum of 30 players and 11 staff while in Queensland. At this point Canberra will take 29 players into the hub.
Canberra Raiders CEO Don Furner said he was “shocked” and frustrated to find out the club would have to relocate given how well the ACT has managed the pandemic.
“It was a bit of a shock because I thought we were safe, Canberra’s safe.
“Our stadium is allowed full capacity, the city has been pretty compliant, we wore masks for the last two weeks.
Furner thought the Raiders would remain in Canberra as recently as last night, but the Victorian Government branding the ACT a hotspot “changed everything”.
The NRL has extended an invitation for families of players to fly up and stay in the same accommodation. They will be required to undergo COVID-testing and a 14-day quarantine period.
According to Furner, families will be relocated either later this week or early next week.
Players involved in State of Origin III from the 12 affected clubs will reunite with their respective teams and families when they relocate to Queensland.
Raiders members and corporates to be compensated
The establishment of the Queensland hub will see the Raiders home matches against the Sharks and the Dragons played on the Gold Coast. There remains a possibility all four remaining home matches will be played outside the capital.
The order of games from rounds 18-21 will not change, nor will the dates and times of when matches are played.
The only changes will be the venues for some matches.
Games that were to be hosted in Brisbane, North Queensland, Gold Coast and Melbourne will remain as is.
At this stage, crowds are permitted in Queensland and Victoria.
Raiders staff today met and concluded that affected members and corporate partners will be compensated for any lost benefits incurred through until the end of the regular season.
The club is awaiting further advice from the NRL about what the remainder of the season is going to look like.
As it is yet to be seen just how many home matches will be played away from Canberra, compensation for members and corporate partners will be finalised at seasons end.
Casual ticket purchasers for the two matches will receive information shortly from Ticketek about refunds.
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