Queensland’s Premier Rugby season will head straight into finals with the unfortunate cancellation of the final two rounds of fixtures.
Queensland Rugby Union Chief Executive David Hanham signed off on board approval to adapt to the COVID-19 lockdown conditions in Queensland.
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The July 31 and August 7 rounds for first grade, second grade and women have been cancelled to allow the club season to finish with no unnecessary extension if lockdown conditions end in the coming week.
What it means to first grade is locking in the University of Queensland (73 points), GPS (66), fast-finishing Wests (50) and Brothers (48) as semi-finalists.
Fifth-placed Bond University (41) miss out after a three-game losing streak that included the costly 40-31 loss to Wests on July 24.
The semi-finals will be played on the weekend of August 14-15. Preliminary finals are set for the August 21-22 weekend before the grand final at Suncorp Stadium on August 28.
Should Queensland’s current lockdown end on Sunday or even be extended by just a few days, that format will proceed.
If lockdown is lifted on August 15, the preliminary final would be removed and a revamped 1 v 4 and 2 v 3 semi-final series played.
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If lockdowns further intrude, the QRU will consider the status and options for all Premier Rugby competitions.
Round 18 only is affected with a cancellation in the three Colts competitions plus thirds, fourths and fifths.
“It’s not ideal but like the Government we have had to make decisions with what we are presented with,” QRU Community Rugby General Manager Gaven Head said.
