AFL CEO Andrew Dillon says Brisbane and Geelong are currently planning for Thursday night's season opener at the Gabba to go ahead as planned, but the League will continue to liaise with officials as a tropical cyclone looms off the Queensland coast.

The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting hundreds of millimetres of rain and winds of up to 130km/h across the state on Thursday, when Tropical Cyclone Alfred is predicted to make landfall.

Residents in northern NSW and southern Queensland have been told to prepare for the cyclone to hit, urging them to secure canned food and water in the coming days.

Brisbane is scheduled to unveil their premiership flag against Geelong at the Gabba ahead of a rematch of last year's memorable preliminary final, but the weather forecast has put the game in some doubt.

Dillon says the League and both clubs would work with the bureau and government officials, but they are still planning for the game to go ahead as scheduled

"Every game we have contingencies and we have options, but at the moment the game is scheduled for Thursday night," he said in Sydney at the launch of Opening Round.

"The Lions are working towards that, as are Geelong and as are the AFL and Channel Seven."

With the match still three days away, there is time for the storm to weaken and Dillon says the AFL will monitor the forecast during the week.

He would not be drawn on when the League would have to make a final call.

"The deadline will be when we know actually what is going to happen. At the moment, there are forecasts and those forecasts have changed. When we're absolutely 100 per cent confident about what's going to happen, we'll make a call then," he said.

"Weather patterns are unpredictable. The health and safety of our players and fans will be the number one priority in every decision we make."

Dillon said he had spoken with Lions chief executive Greg Swann on Sunday night and again on Monday morning.

One possible scenario should the game have to be postponed is to play it in round three, when both clubs are scheduled to have a bye.

It's yet to be seen how Gold Coast's game against Essendon at People First Stadium on Saturday evening will also be impacted by the weather. The bureau is forecasting heavy rain to persist across the state's south east across the weekend.

Dillon said the strong forecast winds were more of a concern than the rain.

"Our opening game is a big game, but it's not the main game ... the main game is actually that the people of southeast Queensland and northern NSW are safe and that's the focus now," he said.

Premier David Crisafulli has warned Queenslanders to be prepared.

"It did intensify overnight, and all of the modelling from the bureau is showing that it will cross the coast, so that has firmed up overnight," he told ABC radio on Monday morning.

"We have to make sure that people are taking those precautionary approaches.

"We've got a little bit of time, but those winds will be challenging.

"When you're talking about falls of a few hundreds millimetres or more in a short period of time, there will be a challenge, so it's important that people do all the little things you can at your place."