Here is the Jimmy Barnes 2020 version which makes its debut on Foxtel tomorrow (March 8):
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This is the last thing the NRL needs before the new season kicks off tomorrow night.
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The Cowboy’s new stadium was christened tonight but the celebration was spoiled by the result.
The 22,000+ crowd didn’t seem too concerned about coronavirus.
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Probably because there hasn’t to this stage been a confirmed case north of Rockhampton.
Anyway, with the NZ travel restrictions now in place (everyone except Pacific Islanders to self quarantine for 14 days as of Midnight Monday Morning), I doubt we’ll be seeing much more of the season unless someone thinks of a solution very quickly.
One solution is that the NZ Warriors play their matches in Australia for the foreseeable future.
UPDATE 15/3 10.30am AEDT
Round two will be played and then the NRL will reassess the situation.
(NRL CEO Todd) Greenberg said the Warriors would base themselves in Kingscliff on the NSW-Queensland border and play their round-two match against Canberra at Gold Coast’s Cbus Super Stadium instead of the scheduled clash at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.
However Warriors duo Patrick Herbert and Peta Hiku are returning to New Zealand to be with their families - Herbert became a father recently and Hiku’s partner is eight months pregnant.
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Well it looks like there will be a round 2, but with the Warriors reportedly looking to head home after that game anything else is up in the air. League wanted them to stay for 16 days, Warriors only agreed to 7.
As for the league itself, there’s speculation according to Paul Kent on MMM that if they suspend the competition, and that lasts for more than 3 months, then the whole competition is in jeopardy not just for this year but beyond.
Manly went to extreme lengths to prevent the spread of coronavirus during their game against Melbourne this afternoon. As explained in this video.
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Nine broke into programming with media conference that round 2 of NRL would continue as planned
7 live stream
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NRL Media conference underway saying that this week’s rounds are going ahead. Implementing self isolation for players. Worst case scenario is a player contracting virus.
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Well the first empty stadium game cowboys vs the dogs at Olympic Park on a Thursday night. It would normally be a pretty sparse crowd. So it doesn’t make a huge difference for this game anyway.
Because no-one is allowed to be!
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Crowd or no crowd, I feel that ANZ Stadium is just too big for the Bulldogs during the home and away season. They should be playing at Bankwest Stadium or better still, their own venue, if not for the botched Oasis project two decades ago.
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So the Chooks are 0 from 2 after going down 9-8 to Manly this evening.
I thought they’d struggle somewhat without Cronk to guide them around…
Still, it’s early days and they’ve got a good enough team to make the finals still.
…
Watching the game on TV without the crowd does feel strange, but then, there’s no poor crowd behaviour to detract from the game itself.
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it does?