State of Origin Game 3 has been officially moved to the Gold Coast.
The New South Wales government officially advised the NRL that they would not allow Origin 3 to proceed in Newcastle with a major event crowd as the COVID situation in Sydney and the surrounding areas rapidly worsened.
Saturday saw an additional 50 cases in the Sydney basin recorded by New South Wales health.
In a statement, the NRL said the government was ensuring the outbreak doesn't spread to regional New South Wales.
"The New South Wales government was ensuring the current outbreak does not spread to regional New South Wales. While there is no community infection in Newcastle, the worsening COVID situation in Sydney over the last couple of days caused the New South Wales government to believe hosting a major event in a regional community with a crowd could create additional risk to the community," the statement read.
"Given there there is no live crowd permitted for the event, the Commission held an emergency meeting this evening and decided to move the match interstate to ensure a viable event and live match atmosphere."
It's understood the game on the Gold Coast will be held with a full capacity crowd. Both teams are already in camp in the region and are within driving distance of the venue at Robina.
The decision from the NRL means all three games will now be held in Queensland, with the Maroons desperately attempting to avoid a series sweep.
There has been some talk in recent days that the NRL itself may be forced to relocate out of Sydney owing to the worsening situation and numerous COVID bubble breaches by players in the past fortnight.
It's led to major fines and suspensions, with state governments and the NRL reportedly considering their options.
One option has been floated as a Brisbane hub, while a regional New South Wales hub has also been mentioned, however, the removal of Origin 3 from Newcastle would throw cold water on the latter idea.
The NRL is currently proceeding in Sydney without crowds, while all teams are under Level 4 bubble restrictions, which include fly in and fly out procedures on match days. It's anticipated the two Origin teams would have used these procedures in arriving and departing from Newcastle for the dead rubber, but will now simply need to drive to the venue on the Gold Coast.
The Blues have already won the Origin shield, taking Game 1 and 2 in Townsville and Brisbane respectively by a combined scoreline of 76 points to 6.