NSW COVID cases force NRL to relocate State of Origin III, Newcastle Knights

And just to further add to the disappointment, Newcastle fans are not expected to be able to see their side in the flesh for at least a month with the NRL to relocate 12 clubs including the Knights to Queensland this week.

The drastic measure comes amid concerns of border closures and government travel exemptions being withdrawn following the seriousness of the outbreak in Sydney.

The Knights were due to play Melbourne and the Sydney Roosters away from home over the next fortnight before scheduled games at home against the Canberra Raiders [July 31] and Brisbane Broncos [August 5]. They will now play the Storm in Melbourne on Saturday with the following three games almost certain to be held in Queensland.

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V'landys, the ARL Commission chairman, told the Newcastle Herald the decision to move Origin was "taken out of our hands" and while admitting Newcastle is unlikely to get an opportunity in the future to host the showpiece event, he promised to keep the city in mind for future big games.

"I can understand the fans up there are really disappointed - I'm really disappointed for them," he said.

"I really wanted Origin up there but unfortunately, we are in really testing times at the moment and the circumstances were out of our control. The State government, on the advice of the Chief Medical Officer, told us 'sorry, but you can't have it up there with a crowd'.

"What's the good of having it there if no fans from Newcastle and the Hunter can go - it would have been a waste of time. So we quickly called a [Australian Rugby League] Commission meeting and made the decision to move it from Newcastle to the Gold Coast.

"We'd worked really hard to take it up there. There were offers from other places for a fair bit more financially than Newcastle. But while money is obviously a big factor, loyalty is something you can't buy so we genuinely wanted to reward the fans up there.

"I'm sure it would have been a great spectacle and a great occasion too but unfortunately, it's not to be."

V'landy's admitted with future Origin contracts in place, Newcastle is unlikely to get another chance.

"The problem is a lot of these games have been contracted years in advance," he said. "But after what's happened this year, I suppose anything is possible.

"What we will do is certainly keep Newcastle in mind for other big games. It's something we'll definitely look at going forward to reward the loyalty up there."

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