HOME SNUB FOR TITANS
Travelling Titans to play in Brisbane when NRL returns
THE Gold Coast Titans have been stripped of all home games up to Round Nine as the NRL’s new biosecurity measures force the club out of Cbus Super Stadium.
Brisbane will host all southeast Queensland home games in an empty Suncorp Stadium, with the first review of venue allocations to take place before Round 10.
Titans boss Steve Mitchell said although the team would have preferred to play at home it was a sacrifice the Titans were prepared to make to get competition back under way.
THE Gold Coast Titans have been stripped of all home games up to Round 9 as the NRL’s new biosecurity measures force the club out of Cbus Super Stadium.
Brisbane will host all southeast Queensland home games in an empty Suncorp Stadium, with the first review of venue allocations to take place before Round 10 in July.
Titans boss Steve Mitchell said although the team would have preferred to play at home it was a sacrifice the Titans were prepared to make to get competition back under way.
“We would certainly like to be playing at Cbus, that’s our home ground, however these are unusual times,” he said.
“We’re conscious of the fact we need to do what we need to do get back on the paddock.
“Biosecurity protocols from both State and the NRL need to be adhered to and if that means we have to play at Suncorp Stadium then we’ll play at Suncorp Stadium.
“Though it hasn’t eventuated that we’ll play at home (in the immediate future) we’re very optimistic that we’ll roll back to Cbus for the remainder of the season, hopefully in front of crowds.”
Mitchell said the club would only lose three home games to Brisbane before the Round 9 review of operating procedures kicked in.
The Titans’ first game back is the Round 3 away clash with the Cowboys in Townsville on Friday week.
Acting NRL chief executive officer Andrew Abdo said the move to centralised stadiums was designed to ensure all venues provided the safest possible environment for players and staff, based on the NRL biosecurity protocols.
“The competition will begin with a consolidated approach to venues,” he said.
“Each venue requires customised infrastructure to meet our strict biosecurity requirements.
“We’ve chosen three consolidated venues for clubs in and around Sydney to ensure there are no double headers at venues and in different parts of the region to meet the geographical challenges we face.”
Venues to be used are Suncorp and Townsville’s QCB Stadium in Queensland, Bankwest, Campbelltown and Central Coast stadiums in NSW and AAMI Park in Victoria.