State of Origin III, as well as a number of NRL games due to be held in Sydney, are in doubt after the NSW government enacted a two-week lockdown in parts of the state on Saturday.
From 6pm Saturday residents in Greater Sydney, Central Coast, Blue Mountains and Wollongong will be on stay-at-home orders until July 9, with 10 of the NRL's 16 teams currently in those areas.
That includes the Warriors, who have been relocated from New Zealand to the Central Coast this season.
State of Origin III, to be held at Stadium Australia on July 14, is now in extreme doubt with the game scheduled just five days after the lockdown is due to end.
The NRL has acted accordingly in the past, moving the State of Origin opener from Melbourne to Townsville while Victoria was in lockdown at the start of June.
As the COVID-19 outbreak in Sydney grows, NSW and Queensland are preparing to play Origin II in Brisbane on Sunday night.
All game-day staff in Brisbane who have been in Sydney in the past 14 days have had COVID-19 tests while all NSWRL players and staff returned negative tests before travelling to Kingscliff on Monday.
The regular NRL competition is set to resume after a bye with round 16 scheduled to kick off on Thursday night when the Sydney Roosters host Melbourne in Newcastle.
That game had already been shifted from the Sydney Cricket Ground.
Three more games scheduled to be played in Sydney next weekend are now in doubt, but could proceed without crowds with greater Sydney-based NRL players and staff under strict bubble restrictions.
It's now expected the NRL will expand those bubble restrictions to include all teams to ensure the competition can go ahead.
The first two games of round 17, scheduled to be played within Sydney, also fall within the current lock down period and are also in doubt.
Manly are scheduled to host Canberra at Brookvale Oval on July 8, while South Sydney are booked to play North Queensland at Stadium Australia on July 9.
