Tropical Cyclone Alfred prompts AFL to call off Thursday’s season opener at the Gabba

As Tropical Cyclone Alfred continues to threaten coastal areas in south east Queensland and the northern NSW coast, the AFL has announced that it has called off its season-opening clash between Brisbane and Geelong at the Gabba as well as Saturday night’s match between Gold Coast Suns and Essendon.

The Lions and Cats were scheduled to meet in Brisbane on Thursday night with the reigning premiers to launch the 2025 season with the unfurling of their premiership flag. The two sides will instead play at a future date still to be decided by the AFL.

The Suns’ scheduled home fixture against the Bombers at People First Stadium in Carrara has also been postponed after the AFL held discussions with the Queensland Government, the Bureau of Meteorology and Stadiums Queensland.

AFL Chief Executive Andrew Dillon announced the two matches would be postponed late yesterday, advising “the priority is that we do everything we can to ensure the health and safety of everyone in and around any potential cyclone zone or community impacted by the forecast heavy rains and storm surges.

“It is a very uncertain situation that is unfolding, and our thoughts are with everyone in south-east Queensland and northern NSW that may be impacted. Ultimately, we hope this weather event doesn’t eventuate, but we know everyone needs to prepare accordingly and we don’t want our games to be a distraction to those preparations.

“We want to make the decision now to give clubs and fans certainty in an uncertain environment and allow anyone from Queensland who would normally be involved in this game through coaching, playing, attending or working at the venue time to be home with their families and available in the community if required.”

The AFL’s opening round will now begin on Friday night when Sydney host Hawthorn at the SCG. Greater Western Sydney and Collingwood will meet at Engie Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the feature round is reduced to only two matches.

The NRL has also reacted to Cyclone Alfred, moving the Dolphins and South Sydney match out of Brisbane, with the Friday night clash now to be played at CommBank Stadium in Sydney.

The NRL said the safety of players, fans and the community were the highest priority when considering the venue change.

The A-Leagues are still to make a call on whether to postpone the women’s match between Brisbane and Melbourne City at Perry Park in Bowen Hills scheduled for Sunday night, while the Roar’s men’s squad will fly out earlier than planned to face Adelaide United away on Saturday.

The Mooloolaba Triathlon has also been cancelled after the Sunshine Coast Council revoked the event's permit at 12pm on Tuesday.

There had been uncertainty over whether the event would proceed despite predictions relating to the extreme weather event.

While organisers had delayed a final decision on whether to proceed with Australia's second largest triathlon, the worsening weather and ongoing safety concerns prompted the Council to withdraw its approval, forcing the cancellation of the event.

Sunshine Coast Mayor Rosanna Natoli said the event would be rescheduled soon.

Having already advised that the Hyundai Australian Boardriders Battle Grand Final, originally scheduled to take place on the Gold Coast on 8th and 9th March, had been called off, Surfing Australia has announced new dates for the event.

It has been rescheduled to 12th and 13th April at Burleigh Heads on the Gold Coast.

As of late yesterday, Gold Coast attractions Dreamworld and WhiteWater World advised that they would close from today, with plans to reopen on Saturday (8th March) “pending further weather assessments”.

The statement explained “while severe weather is not expected to reach the Gold Coast until Wednesday evening, we’re closing from Wednesday morning to allow our teams time to prepare and stay safe.”

With the Tropical Cyclone having reached category two storm strength off the coast of Queensland on Monday night, conditions are expected to deteriorate further as it approaches the south-east Queensland coast.

Currently predicted to make landfall just north of Brisbane, the Bureau of Meteorology anticipates damaging wind gusts of up to 120 kilometres per hour along with heavy rain and resultant flooding in coastal and low lying areas.

Images: Thursday night's AFL season-opener at the Gabba has been called off (top), this weekend's Mooloolaba Triathlon has been cancelled after the Sunshine Coast Council revoked its permit (middle) and Coast Entertainment Holdings' announcement that Dreamworld and WhiteWater World will close from today (below).