The coronavirus pandemic is making its mark on Australia once again, and the NRL are scrambling in an attempt to keep their season going.
While the week off for Origin bought them some time, Peter V'Landys has been adamant that there will be no pause to the competition, temporary or otherwise.
Last year of course saw the NRL suspended for months as Australia and the world learnt to deal with the pandemic. This time though, V'Landys and his team aren't letting the pandemic slow them down.
As it stands right now, Brisbane and parts of Queensland (including the Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast and Townsville) are going into a three-day lockdown which will extend to Friday night at 6pm.
Meanwhile, Sydney is in the midst of a two-week lockdown, not scheduled to finish until Friday, July 9 at midnight. Melbourne has come out of lockdown, but of course, border restrictions are in full force around the country.
It means all games in Sydney will be played without crowds, ticket sales either paused or refunded to those games. The New Zealand Warriors, Penrith Panthers, Canterbury Bulldogs and Wests Tigers are all set to play home games in the Sydney or Central Coast basin this weekend.
The Sydney Roosters have already moved their home game to Newcastle, but there too, it will be limited capacity. Ticket sales are still ongoing for that match however.
Craig Bellamy's Melbourne Storm outfit, who were based on the Sunshine Coast, have also announced they will fly home tonight. The men in purple will then fly from Melbourne to Newcastle and back on match day.
The Newcastle Knights are also set to play at home this weekend, however, at the time of publishing, ticket sales appeared to be on hold.
Round 16s other two games will see the Raiders host the Sea Eagles, with seemingly no change to capacity at this time, although ticket sales will stop early, while the Broncos are proceeding full speed ahead for their match with the Sharks.
Intriguingly, that Sunday afternoon fixture will take place almost 48 hours after Brisbane's three-day snap lockdown expires, meaning it could go ahead at full capacity if things go perfectly from now until then.
Any teams crossing state borders will also need to return to 2020s arrangements of match day travel. The NRLs agreement with state governments to circumvent closed borders is teams will only be in the state for as long as they need to be and not a single second longer.
It's understood the NRL Apollo committee will be meeting this evening to discuss both Round 16, and the eventual location of Origin 3 in a few weeks, with it looking more and more unlikely the game will be held at Stadium Australia in Sydney, as it was supposed to be.
Keep it locked to Zero Tackle for any updates as they come to hand regarding the status of Round 16.
