With the Sydney COVID-19 cluster increasing and spiralling out of control, the ARLC has confirmed to relocate the competition to Queensland.
The New Zealand Warriors, Canberra Raiders, Newcastle Knights and the nine Sydney-based NRL clubs will be on the move north of the Tweed, per NRL.com.
While the Round 18 fixtures will remain the same, the NRL are now in the middle of a logistical nightmare, sorting out the new venues and times for the upcoming round.
With the ARLC yet to make a formal decision on the competition's future, it is understood that each team's bubble will include 41 players and staff, along with families, however the Queensland Government is yet to approve the proposal.
Moreover, the competition is likely to be broken up into three separate bubbles - Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Brisbane. Each club will be delegated their region by the NRL on Monday.
While this precaution will hopefully be temporary, a gruelling reality players could potentially face is that this bubble may still be enforced for the duration of the NRL season as New South Wales recorded 77 local cases this Sunday.