South Sydney, including returning players Cody Walker, Jai Arrow and Campbell Graham, are set to fly to Brisbane early for fear of Cyclone Alfred leaving them stranded in Sydney and missing their season opener against the Dolphins.

Coach Wayne Bennett informed his Souths players on Monday morning the club had contacted the NRL about re-booking a flight on Wednesday so they could avoid being in the air when Queensland’s weather is predicted to be at its worst.

Souths have already had a disrupted pre-season with injuries to key pair Cameron Murray and Latrell Mitchell, and there was no way Bennett wanted any more distractions leading into Friday night’s game against his former club.

The NRL confirmed they had been in contact with Souths about bringing forward their flights, but there had been no plans to reschedule Friday’s game. Suncorp Stadium has flooded in the past.

At a press conference in Sydney on Monday, AFL boss Andrew Dillon would not commit to a deadline for a decision on whether Thursday’s Brisbane-Geelong season opener at the Gabba went ahead as planned.

“There’s no actual deadline, it’s when we’re absolutely 100 per cent confident about what’s going to happen, then we’ll make the call then,” he said.

Arrow, who will return from shoulder surgery, welcomed the chance to head north a day early, saying he would not board a plane if there was a remote chance of cyclonic conditions.

“We don’t want any distractions before our first game of the year, and it would be nice to go up Wednesday because there’s no chance I’m flying if there’s a cyclone – I’m genuinely not flying if that’s the case,” Arrow said.