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ustralian Rugby League Commission (ARLC) chairman, Peter V’landys, said “nothing has changed” for the NRL, despite Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk announcing Queensland will close its borders to the greater Sydney area from 1am on Saturday.

“Nothing has changed. I don’t understand what the problem is,” V’landys told the Herald.

“We had an exemption when we first put the protocols in, and they were submitted and approved when the whole border was closed.

“Now they’re only closing Sydney.

“They’ve already closed it to hotspots in Sydney and we still had the exemption.

“All we had to do was reinstate the original protocols, which we have done.

“They weren’t under those protocols before,” he said, discussing the three Queensland-based clubs and the Melbourne Storm, who are now based on the Sunshine Coast, adopting the NRL’s protocols stopping players from visiting cafes, restaurants, gyms, pubs, and clubs.

“We have simply reinstated everything to what it was when the competition came back, and the risk was greater than it is now,” V’landys said.

“Anything is possible in these days, but I can’t understand how any (of the exemptions) will have changed when all of the protocols have already been approved,” he said.

While V’landys is confident the NRL season will not be disrupted by the latest decision from the Queensland Government, the AFL has announced the Sydney Swans and Greater Western Sydney Giants will move to Queensland tomorrow (Thursday).

Both Sydney-based AFL clubs were already scheduled to play their next two fixtures in Queensland but had planned to return home in-between and after their games.

They will not both remain in Queensland for that period, before travelling to Western Australia to join the Perth-based AFL hub.

The Super Netball season has also been thrown into question with the announcement, as four matches are currently scheduled in Sydney over the first two rounds of the competition, which begins August 1 (Saturday), before all teams move to Queensland from round three onwards.

Netball Australia is expected to announce changes for the opening two rounds shortly that will see all teams be based in Queensland before the borders close to Sydney.