Showdown looms over local Test
AFTER drawn-out negotiations to get back on the field, the NRL and Queensland Government could be set for another showdown with Queensland Country Bank Stadium at the centre of the stoush.
The Townsville Bulletin can reveal a planned Test match between Australia and New Zealand at the end of the season will likely be at the mercy of COVID-19 but the Government will not let it fall off the agenda altogether with an expectation it will be rescheduled.
QUEENSLAND Country Bank Stadium was set to host its crowning achievement at the end of the year but it appears the COVID-19 saga has forced a redrawing of plans.
The Townsville Bulletin can reveal a rugby league Test match between the two best nations, the Australia Kangaroos and the New Zealand Kiwis, had been planned to follow the NRL season before the Kangaroos set sail for a tour of England in November.
But with the COVID-19 pandemic forcing the NRL and its Project Apollo group to redraw the competition, and push State of Origin to the end of the season, the proposed Test faces uncertainty.
It is understood the Queensland Government will continue to push for the Test match showpiece after it was included in a content commitment as part of the stadium funding negotiations.
A source close to the negotiations said the decision to reschedule the Test would be made by the NRL but it could not be pulled off the table.
“The time frames have to change because of a pandemic – we will argue that that game has to go ahead but it may get pushed into the new year,” the source said.
“The whole thing we want to avoid is that stadium sitting idle. We will get content back in there.”
The Test match between the two Anzac nations was set to be the “icing on the cake” of an exciting year of sporting content at the $293.5 million stadium, which also included a rugby union Test between the Wallabies and Fiji, a visit from English Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Jeff Horn-tim Tszyu fight, which was postponed last month.
The NRL could not confirm plans around the proposed Test match, but admitted there had been discussions around hosting the Kiwis in North Queensland before the coronavirus struck.
“At the moment we are focused on May 28 and there is State of Origin at the end of the year. It is too early to be speculating about internationals,” an NRL source said.
The Kiwis could now be otherwise engaged following the season, with speculation the NRL will push for a threegame series against Jason Taumalolo’s Tonga to coincide with the State of Origin series in November.
With the league focused on restarting its regular season on May 28, and releasing a reworked season schedule “in the coming weeks”, any conversation about the Townsville Test match will be put on the backburner.
But a lengthy wait could lead to a showdown between the Queensland Government and the game’s governing body.