https://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/n...l/news-story/1c3bd955efa2f669e83d7c47c9859f50
Toads to cane us in bid to steal grand final
Anna Caldwell & Julian Linden, The Daily Telegraph
in an hour
THE prospect of a Brisbane NRL grand final is now real, with the code’s chair Peter Beattie already sounding out the Queensland government about moving the matches if NSW walks away from its deal to dramatically upgrade its sporting stadiums.
The Daily Telegraph can reveal that Mr Beattie has now spoken to Queensland Tourism Minister Kate Jones, indicating he is serious about taking grand finals north.
The NRL will strongly protest plans by new state Labor leader Michael Daley to not pay $1.5 billion to rebuild Allianz stadium and dramatically refurbish ANZ.
It comes as NSW Sports Minister Stuart Ayres vowed to let the wrecking balls and bulldozers in to start demolishing Allianz Stadium the moment approval was granted.
Mr Beattie spoke to Ms Jones on Tuesday, a day after Mr Daley announced his plan to rip $1.5 billion of public money from Sydney stadiums.
“Of course we are serious when we say we will take the game elsewhere,” Mr Beattie said. “Kate Jones asked me if this was a genuine option and I said it was.
“We have to do what’s best for the game and the fans. And we will do that”.
The NRL will also consider Melbourne for grand finals.
Mr Beattie and NRL boss Todd Greenberg will meet with Mr Daley next week.
The Labor leader believes he can keep the grand final in Sydney even if government does not pay for new stadiums.
Allianz is due to be demolished before the election. If Labor wins, the SCG Trust will need to find a $730 million loan to pay for a new stadium.
Describing Labor’s plans to withdraw funding for the project as “an act of desperation”, Mr Ayres said the government would proceed as soon as planning approval was granted.
“There’s no change to the government’s agenda, we’ve been very upfront with people,” Mr Ayres said. “I expect planning approval will come out in early December.”
Mr Daley wants the project halted immediately. He said that if Labor won the election, the $1.5 billion that was to spent on the stadiums would be diverted to hospitals and schools.
But Mr Ayres said it was not good enough.
“Every major city in Australia, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, have all rebuilt their sporting infrastructure since the 2000 Olympics … it’s now time for us to reinvest,” Mr Ayres said.
NSW Waratahs CEO Andrew Hore said Allianz just wasn’t up to it any more.
“We’re really disappointed there was no consolation. That kind of statement can have a sincere impact,” Mr Hore said.