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he NRL has announced all 52,500 seats at Suncorp Stadium will be available for the Ampol State of Origin decider on Wednesday night.

This comes after Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk announced a major easing of Queensland’s COVID-19 restrictions, with seated, ticketed venues including indoor and outdoor sporting facilities, live music venues, theatres, and cinemas to return to 100% capacity from November 17.

This means Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane will be allowed to hold 52,500 spectators for the State of Origin match, making it the largest crowd in Australia since the COVID-19 pandemic forced the shutdown of Australian sport.

NRL CEO, Andrew Abdo, said about 2,000 tickets will be gifted to front-line health care workers and emergency services personnel to say thank you for the work they have done during the pandemic.

“This is an outstanding opportunity for more of our fans to be part of something special,” Abdo said.

“Wednesday night’s game will be the biggest crowd in Australia since the COVID suspension and rugby league will be the first sport to play at a major venue in Australia with 100% capacity available.

“It has been an extraordinary season and remarkable that our final game of the year will be an Origin decider with no crowd cap.

“It’s amazing to think how far the game has come since the competition was suspended in March.

“Frontline healthcare workers and emergency services personnel are among the heroes of our nation.

“The allocation of tickets is a small way for the game to say thank you for the remarkable work they have done this year,” he said.