Queensland Rugby League officials are apparently not a superstitious lot with confirmation that the Maroons' pre-Origin camps will no longer be held at the Palmer Coolum Resort on the Sunshine Coast.
Although a final decision is yet to be made on the new venue where Queensland will prepare for a shot at nine straight Series wins, the QRL did confirm that the Coolum base had been dumped in favour of a Gold Coast resort, likely to be either Sanctuary Cove or RACV Royal Pines.
Currently in camp at Royal Pines with his North Queensland Cowboys teammates, Maroons star Johnathan Thurston seemed less than impressed at a change of venue – perhaps due to the lack of direct flights between Townsville and Coolangatta.
But Cowboys coach Paul Green was full of praise for the reception and facilities on offer at the home of the Australian PGA Championship and ANZ Ladies Masters golf tournaments.
"The facilities have been fantastic. Royal Pines have really looked after us since we've been here and so far the camp's been great," Green said.
"The boys are enjoying a change of scenery and hopefully we'll get plenty of work done out of it this week."
The New South Wales Rugby League recently announced that their pre-match camps for games One and Three will be at the Novotel Pacific Bay Resort at Coffs Harbour and the QRL expects to finalise their decision on the new home of Camp Maroon by the end of the week.
