Queensland is ready to snatch away the NRL grand final after Peter V'landys accused the NSW Government of reneging on a handshake deal over stadiums.
The NRL wants to make a call on this year's decider by the end of this week, amid a high-stakes stadia stoush with the NSW Government.
V'landys on Wednesday accused NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet of "using the human tragedy" of the state's floods as the latest of several excuses not to upgrade suburban grounds.
In response, Perrottet declared he was not answerable to V'landys while adamant money should be directed to the rebuild from the floods over redevelopments of grounds such as Brookvale Oval.
The situation gifted Queensland a possible chance to claim the sport's biggest event, after first hosting the decider last year due to Sydney's COVID lockdown.
"Our door is always open," Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said.
"We'll have those conversations with the NRL.
"There's always this argy-bargy leading up to a grand final. We will always have an open mind if New South Wales is not able to put that final on."
It comes after V'landys claimed Perrottet twice promised him this year refurbishments would go ahead.
Included in that is an April meeting in the premier's office, where V'landys said the pair shook hands on the deal that would keep the grand final in Sydney until 2042.
The ARL Commission chairman said he had also spoken to Perrottet later in the year over the phone, when he was told to trust suburban upgrades would go ahead.
"We looked the premier in the eye, we shook his hand we did a deal and he's just blatantly reneged," V'landys told 2GB.
"When you do a deal and you shake someone's hand you honour that agreement.
"(When) they use the human tragedy of the floods, to spin their way out of why they're reneging on it, it takes it to another level."
"This is about the fourth or fifth excuse that has been given to us."
The NRL originally signed a deal in 2018 to keep the grand final in Sydney until 2042 with Sydney Olympic Park's Accor Stadium to get an $800 million upgrade.
That rebuild was put off during the early stages of COVID-19, with a new $300 million stadium at Penrith then announced.
The NRL then claimed it agreed on $250 million government spend at other stadiums, with V'landys adamant they were community projects as well to curb childhood obesity.
However Perrottet told him in a heated meeting on Monday night that was no longer immediately available.
The Premier conceded on Wednesday it would be "very disappointing" if Sydney was to lose the grand final, but stood by his position.
"There is no other state that has put as much investment in sporting infrastructure as the NSW Government," Perrottet said.
"But when circumstances change, priorities change too. Ultimately, I am not accountable to Peter V'landys. I am accountable to the people of NSW.
"I have over 1000 people without a home, based on the flooding that we have seen across New South Wales."
Perrottet's position has backed by the opposition, however Labor have raised concerns over the Penrith rebuild in resigned sports minister Stuart Ayres' seat ahead of other venues.
© AAP 2022