South Sydney, including returning players Cody Walker, Jai Arrow and Campbell Graham, are set to fly to Brisbane early for fear of Cyclone Alfred leaving them stranded in Sydney and missing their season opener against the Dolphins.
Coach Wayne Bennett informed his Souths players on Monday morning the club had contacted the NRL about re-booking a flight on Wednesday so they could avoid being in the air when Queensland’s weather is predicted to be at its worst.
Souths have already had a disrupted pre-season with injuries to key pair Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell, and there was no way Bennett wanted any more distractions leading into Friday night’s game against his former club.
The NRL confirmed they had been in contact with Souths about bringing forward their flights, but there had been no plans to reschedule Friday’s game. Suncorp Stadium has flooded in the past.
At a press conference in Sydney on Monday, AFL boss Andrew Dillon would not commit to a deadline for a decision on whether Thursday’s Brisbane-Geelong season opener at the Gabba went ahead as planned.
“There’s no actual deadline, it’s when we’re absolutely 100 per cent confident about what’s going to happen, then we’ll make the call then,” he said.
Wayne Bennett is leaving nothing to chance for South Sydney’s season-opener as Cyclone Alfred threatens QueenslandCredit: Getty Images
Arrow, who will return from shoulder surgery, welcomed the chance to head north a day early, saying he would not board a plane if there was a remote chance of cyclonic conditions.
“We don’t want any distractions before our first game of the year, and it would be nice to go up Wednesday because there’s no chance I’m flying if there’s a cyclone – I’m genuinely not flying if that’s the case,” Arrow said.
“If there’s a chance all flights could be cancelled later in the week, it also makes sense to get up there earlier.
“Wayne said there was a cyclone meant to hit on Thursday afternoon, and how we could now be going up Wednesday.”
Jai Arrow is back from shoulder surgery.Credit: Getty Images
Arrow said the likelihood of wet conditions on Friday night meant there would be fewer cutout passes, and a greater emphasis on defence.
While the loss of Murray (Achilles) and Mitchell (hamstring) have hurt Souths, the return of Arrow, along with Walker (calf) and Graham (hand) is a huge boost. The trio trained strongly on Monday
Jamie Humphreys appears set to start at halfback ahead of Jayden Sullivan, while Tallis Duncan and Lachie Hubner both trained at lock forward.
Arrow, who will start on the right edge, has dropped from 103kg to 97kg to cope with the bigger minutes expected of him this season. He’s grateful that Graham is ready to take his place at right centre.
“I’ve got the big ‘Velcro’ back – I call him ‘Velcro’ because when people try to run past him, he grabs them and they don’t go anywhere,” Arrow said of Graham.
Walker played no part in the trials but is expected to return at five-eighth and captain the team.
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