Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk suggested she was keen to start negotiations to host the grand final again, saying the door was “always open” to the NRL.
“There’s always this argy-bargy leading up to a grand finale,” she said in Townsville on Wednesday.
“We will always have an open mind if New South Wales is not able to put that final on.”
V’landys was speaking at the unveiling of a suite of prizemoney increases for thoroughbred races in NSW, before quickly turning the blowtorch back on the NSW government.
The NRL believed they had an understanding with Perrottet for suburban stadiums at Brookvale, Cronulla and Leichhardt to be upgraded in response to the government scrapping an $800 million redevelopment of Accor Stadium, the country’s largest rectangular sporting venue.
Peter V’landys speaks at a Racing NSW press conference in Sydney on Wednesday.Credit:Rhett Wyman
He even took a swipe at the usefulness of the new Sydney Football Stadium, which is due to open next month when the Roosters and Rabbitohs play in the final round of the NRL’s regular season. I have described the $800 million build as “unnecessary”.
“It’s a 42,000-seat stadium,” V’landys said. “You’re going to get your honeymoon period for the next few weeks where it’s going to be full, but after that it’s going to be 10,000 or 15,000 [crowds].
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“They could have used that $1 billion and built suburban stadiums elsewhere. We want the money invested in suburban areas where they’re multipurpose facilities.”
Asked about his grand final threat, V’landys said: “One thing you’ll learn from me, I don’t bluff.”
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