The Canberra Raiders' trip to Brookvale to play the Manly Sea Eagles is in serious doubt after ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr ruled out footballers getting special treatment in response to the Sydney two-week lockdown.
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But he did leave the door open for the NRL's Apollo protocols from last year to be reintroduced.
Barr also said it was highly unlikely the ACT government would make a play for either the third State of Origin game or the Wallabies' opening Test against France - both of which were scheduled for the SCG in coming weeks.
Sydney has gone into a two-week lockdown as COVID-19 numbers continued to rise, which encompasses the Raiders' next trip up the Hume Highway.
They're scheduled to play the Sea Eagles on July 8 - the day before the lockdown ends.
As things stand, it meant the Raiders couldn't travel to Sydney and Manly can't come here.
The game could be moved elsewhere - if the Sea Eagles were given permission to leave Sydney.
That's a possibility given the NSW government's health orders do allow for Sydneysiders to leave the city for work.
The Canberra Times asked the NRL for comment, but at the time of publication hadn't received a response.
The ARL Commission were set to hold an emergency meeting on Tuesday.
Last year state governments allowed NRL players to travel to and from matches on game day as they were under tight protocols.
The NRL imposed the same protocols on their Sydney based players last week, after initially advising those players not to go to restaurants, pubs or clubs on July 17.
Three Canterbury players were already being investigated for breaching that rule by going to a pub last Sunday.
"I don't know yet what the NRL will do in relation to all of their Sydney teams," Barr said on Saturday.
"Footballers would be subject to the NSW government's requirements so it may well be that matches need to be postponed, but it's a bit early at this point to have a conclusive view on the NRL.
"There will be no magic or special deals for footballers and we would continue to use the same criteria and assessment we have previously when there have been other outbreaks.
"This is a little bit beyond football at the moment. I think it's a bit more serious than that."
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Barr all-but-ruled-out making a play for big games scheduled in Sydney.
While Origin III was meant to be played at the SCG on July 14, it falls outside of the current lockdown.
But it would at best be played in front of a small crowd, opening the door for the NRL to move the game - something they did for the series opener, moving it from the MCG to Townsville due to the Melbourne lockdown.
The Wallabies were meant to play France at the SCG on July 7, but that will need to be relocated.
Brisbane's Lang Park and Newcastle were the leading candidates, although the Gold Coast - where the Wallabies were based - was also in the mix.
But Barr said it wouldn't be appropriate to hold big events while the ACT was surrounded by a lockdown.
"I'd say it would be unlikely at this point with the context of holding mass spectator events in the middle of a lockdown entirely surrounding the ACT - it doesn't seem appropriate," he said.
"And I doubt either of the sporting codes would be looking to Canberra in July as the most logical place to hold an outdoor event.
"So I suspect they would be looking to bigger venues and probably to the north rather than coming here.
"I'm certainly not entering into a bidding war for that sort of content.
"It certainly would not be a tourism event, so on that basis I think it unlikely that either of those football matches would be played in Canberra."