Soon after the AFL decided two season-opening matches in Queensland would be rescheduled, the NRL said Friday night's fixture between the Dolphins and South Sydney in Brisbane would be played at CommBank Stadium.
The AFL season was scheduled to start on Thursday night with Brisbane hosting Geelong at the Gabba, when Alfred is due to cross between the Sunshine Coast and Brisbane.
That game, and Gold Coast's scheduled home match against Essendon on Saturday afternoon, will be played later in the season on dates yet determined.
"It was a tough decision, but in the end, we didn't have any alternative," AFL chief executive Andrew Dillon said on Tuesday.
The AFL ruled out moving the Brisbane and Gold Coast matches to Sydney or Melbourne.
"What we want to do is have the minimum number of people flying in and out of Queensland at the moment," Dillon said.
"They want to be at home with their families and looking after their houses."
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan earlier urged the AFL to make the "logical" decision.
"It's just a game of football," Fagan told reporters.
"It's a cyclone ... I have seen the carnage they have cause at different periods of Australian history, so I'm not too keen on the idea of things going ahead if it's going to be like that ... it can't, can it?"
Geelong coach Chris Scott empathised with "people who have responsibilities beyond the actual game of football".
"It sort of reminds me of the COVID situation," Scott told reporters.
"It's a bit unpalatable talking about when you prefer to play a game of footy when people are sandbagging their houses."
Australian golf officials cancelled the WPGA Championship on the Gold Coast amid the grim forecasts of Tropical Cyclone Alfred hitting Queensland and northern NSW.
The tournament, a co-sanctioned event with the Ladies European Tour, had been scheduled to start on Thursday at Sanctuary Cove on the northern Gold Coast.
But with Cyclone Alfred forecast to strike land by then, the tournament was abandoned in a decision golf hierarchy described as "supremely disappointing" but necessary.
Surfing Australia postponed the Australian boardriders grand final on the Gold Coast and touch football did likewise with its national championships in Coffs Harbour in northern NSW. Both events were scheduled this weekend.
In soccer, Melbourne City expect Sunday's A-League Women game against Brisbane Roar at Brisbane's Perry Park to be delayed until next week.
And the Roar's A-League Men's squad will fly to South Australia on Wednesday, earlier than planned, to ensure Saturday's away game against Adelaide United isn't impacted.
Queensland's surf lifesaving championships from Friday to Sunday at North Kirra on the Gold Coast have been cancelled, as has Friday's pre-season Super Netball clash on the Gold Coast.
And organisers of the annual Mooloolaba triathlon in southeast Queensland are working to find a new date after postponing the event, originally scheduled for Saturday and Sunday.
Tropical Cyclone Alfred is currently out to sea 600km east of Brisbane but is predicted to move towards the mainland, with initial wind gusts and heavy rain expected from late Wednesday.
NSW authorities have issued a cyclone watch in the state for the first time since 1990, joining Queensland in bracing for destructive winds, intense rain and flash flooding.
