The North Queensland Cowboys have confirmed they will travel to Sydney via a private charter flight after all commercial options sold out.
The Cowboys were in very real danger of not being able to make it to Sydney for their semi-final against the Cronulla Sharks, to be played on Friday evening at Allianz Stadium.
It came as fans snapped up all tickets from Townsville to Sydney, leaving the Cowboys' 36-man travelling party unable to book a way to the New South Wales capital on Thursday.
Coach Todd Payten, speaking to News Corp however, has now confirmed the club will fly via a charter plane.
โWe're finalising times but we'll be going down on a charter,โ Cowboys coach Todd Payten said.
โIt's worked out well.
โThe club has done a good job and the players are appreciative of the NRL's help to get us to the game on a charter and we'll go back as well.โ
It's understood the task of transporting the Cowboys and their staff to Sydney will cost somewhere between $50,000 and $100,000, with the NRL and club to split the costs.
The Cowboys will arrive in Sydney on Thursday, the day before the game, as they have done for all away games this year.
โWe have a reasonable routine now that has helped our away record in Sydney," the club's director of football Michael Luck said.
โWe traditionally get to Sydney the day before a game and we're at our hotel by around 2 o'clock, that's as quick as we can do it on a direct flight.
The winner of the clash between Cronulla and North Queensland will then line up against the Penrith Panthers the following week in a preliminary final. It's believed that match will be pushed back to Saturday evening, with the Panthers likely to host at Accor Stadium.
