South Sydney Rabbitohs will face North Queensland Cowboys in Newcastle Friday night after the NRL announced it would move the clash from Sydney on Wednesday afternoon.
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Crowds will be capped at 50 percent capacity, the League said in a statement.
The announcement follows the news lockdowns in Sydney and the regions will continue for at least another week after 27 new locally acquired cases of COVID-19 were recorded in the state overnight.
The NRL said it "thanks the the Rabbitohs for their assistance in relocating the game, ensuring the continuity of the competition".
The Cowboys will fly in and fly out of Newcastle on game day.
It is the second time in as many weeks Newcastle will host a relocated NRL game after the Storm trounced the Roosters in a 46-0 thrashing on July 1.
The Hunter stadium is also expected to host the State of Origin III next week in what would be an historic moment for the region and Australian rugby league. It will be the first NSW Origin game played outside of Sydney.
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Simon McCarthy
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
Simon McCarthy is a journalist working at the Newcastle Herald in NSW. He writes news and features, and produces video and multimedia, for the Herald and Herald Weekender magazine. He contributes regularly to the Newcastle Herald’s daily Topics column, and is the co-creator and producer of the Toohey’s News podcast. McCarthy has worked as a journalist in regional NSW since 2013. He joined the newsroom of the Newcastle Herald in 2017 from the Northern Daily Leader in Tamworth where he worked from 2015 to 2016.
