Melbourne and Brisbane set to bid for NRL grand final

With Sydney’s ANZ Stadium to undergo major redevelopment between 2019 and 2022, the NRL grand final is set to be relocated for that time period. Melbourne and Brisbane have both made bids to bring the showpiece to their cities.

Melbourne has long been the sporting capital of the world and shifting the NRL decider to the Victorian capital would only enhance its reputation.

Following on from last year’s second State of Origin match, which drew 91,513 fans to the MCG, it would also have the potential to draw a similar or even bigger crowd there even if the city’s flagship team, the Melbourne Storm, don’t make it there.

Victorian Sports and Major Events Minister John Eren sees the redevelopment of ANZ Stadium, among other Sydney sporting stadiums, as a chance for Melbourne to snatch a major sporting event from Sydney.

“There’s no better place for an NRL grand final than Melbourne,” he said. “All we need are the goalposts.”

He also went on to state that NSW premier Mike Baird “should be concerned” at the prospect of Sydney losing the grand final, given Baird failed in his attempt to bring the Formula One race to the Harbour City.

Already, Melbourne hosts other major sporting events during the year, including the Australian Open in January, the Formula One in March, several marquee AFL matches including Anzac Day and the grand final, the MotoGP at Phillip Island in October, and of course the Melbourne Cup in November.

It could also possibly mean a blockbuster week of grand finals, with the AFL grand final traditionally taking place on the last Saturday of September (though last year it was played on the first Saturday of October and will again this year).

Should tradition hold, the 2019 AFL grand final would be played on Saturday 28 September, with the NRL decider taking place on Sunday 6 October.

However, the situation could arise as early as 2023 where both deciders are on the same weekend (AFL on September 30 and NRL on October 1), though the redevelopment of ANZ Stadium is expected to be completed by then.

If not, then it would make for a chaotic 24 hours whereby the Melbourne Cricket Ground would need to be converted overnight from an AFL oval to an NRL field, and then to a cricket oval for the start of the Australian cricket season.

Thus, if the MCG could prove it was successful in hosting a State of Origin match, like they did last year, then there is no reason why an NRL grand final at the home of cricket won’t be as successful.

On the other hand, if Brisbane were to host the decider, it would seem most obvious that Suncorp Stadium would host it, given it is the largest rugby league ground in Queensland and has played host to many league blockbusters since the ground was itself redeveloped earlier this millennium.

This year, the ground will host its first NRL double-header since 2011 when the Melbourne Storm face the North Queensland Cowboys followed by the Brisbane Broncos taking on the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles.

It has also hosted numerous State of Origin matches, including last year’s decider where the Maroons romped their way to a record 52-6 demolition of the Blues as well as the final Origin matches of Maroons legends Darren Lockyer and Petero Civoniceva in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

But what it missed out on was last year’s NRL grand final between the Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys, which was the first to pit two Queensland teams against each other and just the second (after the Broncos and Storm in 2006) in NRL history not to feature a New South Wales-based side.

The match itself was one of the best grand finals witnessed in recent history, with Johnathan Thurston kicking the match and premiership-winning field goal in golden point extra time to win his beloved Cowboys their maiden premiership.

But just imagine what could have been had Suncorp hosted the decider last year – it would have so easily sold out, however 30,000 people would have missed out. Last year’s decider attracted 82,758 people – most of them non-New South Welshmen.

Even a grand final between two low-drawing clubs, for example the Cronulla Sharks and Newcastle Knights, would still sell out in Brisbane.

However, Broncos coach Wayne Bennett has called for the decider to stay in Sydney during the period when ANZ Stadium is redeveloped.

“A Brisbane grand final doesn’t excite me. We throw too many things out too easily these days,” he said. “We need continuity and I hope they keep the grand final in Sydney while they are upgrading their stadiums.

“Sydney is the home of the NRL grand final, it’s as simple as that. Melbourne is the home of the AFL grand final. We shouldn’t tamper with it or play with it. If the stadium can’t handle it then they can move it to the Sydney Cricket Ground.

“It’s not that Brisbane wouldn’t deserve it, but it’s about tradition and the history of the game. That aspect is very important to a lot of people. If we change it and don’t respect the tradition then we will lose a lot of great aspects of the day.”

Additionally, while the NRL grand final has never been played outside of Sydney, in 1997 the only Australian Super League grand final was played in Brisbane with 58,912 fans seeing the Broncos defeat the Sharks 26-8 at the Queensland Sports and Athletic Centre (also known at the time as ANZ Stadium).

The Broncos (and the Queensland Maroons in 2001 and 2002) had to use the ground during the late-90s to 2003 while Suncorp was being developed into its current status as the top rugby league ground in Queensland.

Not only was it the only top-flight rugby league grand final to be played outside of its traditional Sydney home, it was also the first decider to take place at night, with the first night-time NRL decider taking place four years later in 2001.

It was also promoted with a street parade and game-night fireworks, something that would never really become a staple in future NRL grand finals though these days the Dally M’s and the grand final breakfast is held in grand final week.

Thus, a Brisbane-based NRL grand final would have the potential to become a massive success both commercially and financially, particularly if the Brisbane Broncos make the decider, for which a sell-out would be all but a possibility.

While the fight continues between Melbourne and Brisbane as to which city should host the NRL decider, I have proposed that the two cities alternate the hosting rights for the four-year period in which ANZ Stadium is redeveloped.

It would come down to a coin toss as to which city would host it first, as was the case when Channels Seven and Ten held the joint-broadcasting rights to the AFL between 2007 and 2011, with one station having to televise the grand final.

Ten won this toss and televised the odd-year grand finals, with the Geelong Cats winning all three of them, while Seven televised the 2008 and 2010 deciders including the drawn match between Collingwood and St Kilda in the latter year.

In this case, both Melbourne and Brisbane would host the decider for two years each, with Brisbane hosting it in 2019 and 2021 and Melbourne taking their turn in 2020 and 2022 (or vice-versa). It would then move back to ANZ Stadium in 2023 for the next twenty years, as proposed by NRL CEO Todd Greenberg.

The redevelopment of ANZ Stadium could also have major ramifications for the three NRL clubs which use this ground regularly: namely the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, South Sydney Rabbitohs and Wests Tigers.

Should the ground be rendered unsafe for use by these three clubs (as it was for Suncorp Stadium which forced the Broncos and Maroons to play at the QSAC), they’ll have to come up with an alternative plan while the ground is redeveloped.

In the most logical sense, the Bulldogs could alternate their home games between their spiritual home ground, Belmore Sports Ground, and Spotless Stadium, playing four matches at each and taking two home games away to other venues.

Already it has been announced that Spotless Stadium would play host to several Western Sydney Wanderers home games between the 2016-17 and 2019-20 seasons while Parramatta Stadium is redeveloped during this period.

The Parramatta Eels would also very likely alternate their home games between Spotless and ANZ Stadiums from next season for the next three years in that same period.

The Tigers would continue to alternate their home games between Leichhardt Oval and Campbelltown Stadium, as they have done since 2000, and also play a couple of games at Allianz Stadium, which they once used as a joint home-ground.

It would also make logical sense for the South Sydney Rabbitohs to temporarily return to Allianz Stadium, thus sharing the ground with the Sydney Roosters for the first time since 2005, while continuing to take home games away to Perth and Cairns, as they have done in recent years.

When the redevelopment of ANZ Stadium is eventually complete, not only will these three clubs return there, new NRL CEO Todd Greenberg has also proposed that the ground will host the NRL grand final for the next twenty years.

And by the time the redevelopments of Parramatta and Allianz Stadiums are complete, Sydney will be home to three of the best state-of-the-art football grounds in the country (with no intended disrespect to the other cities in Australia).

But the question will remain – which, out of Melbourne and Brisbane, should host the NRL grand final while ANZ Stadium is redeveloped? Do you think only one city should host it, or should it be alternated like I have proposed?