Future of State of Origin II at Optus Stadium to be decided ‘sooner rather than later’ after border backflip

WA’s border backflip has put the rugby league showpiece State of Origin clash at Optus Stadium under threat.

Game II of the Queensland v NSW blockbuster series is due to be played at Optus on June 26, and cancellation would mean a huge financial loss to the state.

Tickets are due to go on sale to the public next month and it is understood there has already been a big take up of corporate boxes.

The NRL says a call on whether they will continue planning for the game in Perth will be made “sooner rather than later”.

They want to avoid a late scramble but face the prospect of re-arranging the Origin series schedule for a third straight year as a result of the COVID pandemic.

NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said a possible relocation was on the governing body agenda.

“That is absolutely on our agenda. We want to think about certainty for our fans and the players and everyone,” Abdo said.

“We’ll want to make the call sooner rather than later.

“That’s a discussion that I’ll need to have with our chairman and with the commission.

“Of course we’ve got contingencies in place but we won’t want to leave this too late so if we need to move Origin as we’ve had to do in prior seasons we will.”

The State Government is understood to have paid around $5 million to secure the game but TourismWA said it was up to the NRL whether it was canned.

Optus Stadium staged the 2019 State of Origin II that drew a then-record crowd of 59,721 fans who watched NSW dominate Queensland 38-6 to level the series before winning the decider in Queensland.

The game was said to have attracted more than 12,000 interstate fans, generating a $15 million windfall for the state.