The Round 7 Telstra Premiership match between the Melbourne Storm and the New Zealand Warriors on Friday night will be relocated from AAMI Park in Melbourne to Netstrata Jubilee Stadium in Sydney.
The Apollo team made the determination today to ensure the health and safety of the players, staff and wider community given the spike in COVID-19 cases in Victoria.
The Storm will fly to Sydney later this week to complete preparations. All Storm players and football staff will undergo COVID-19 tests to ensure no risk to the competition prior to Friday night’s game.
NRL Acting CEO Andrew Abdo thanked the Storm club, players and staff for the sacrifice they will make over this period.
“I want to thank the Melbourne Storm players for putting the game ahead of their personal circumstances. What I’m most proud about this year is that every obstacle we have faced the game has banded together to reach an outcome in the best interests of the overall competition,’’ he said.
“It was important to take decisive action not only in the best interest of our players and staff, but the broader community. We have shown that if there is even the slightest risk of infection we won’t hesitate to reschedule or relocate games.”
