Experts Roar: Where should NRL grand final be held? Sydney or Super Bowl style sold to highest bidder

With all the talk about where the NRL grand final should be held, it comes down to whether tradition should outweigh dollars.

The ARL Commission could make many millions by taking the premiership decider on the road every year to Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Adelaide or even overseas.

Or they could stick with tradition and keep the game in Sydney where it has been held for every year in premiership history apart from last year when the match was relocated to Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium due to the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact in NSW.

Behind the scenes it appears one of the main motivating factors in keeping the grand final in Sydney is to squeeze more money out of the NSW Government for suburban stadium upgrades.

The Roar experts have their say and if you’d like to do likewise, fire away in the comments section below.

Experts Roar – grand final location

Michael Hagan (premiership-winning player and coach)

As I wrote in my column for The Roar this week, I’m a traditionalist and think the game should stay in Sydney even though I’m a Queenslander.

I can see the argument about taking the game elsewhere to help grow the game but I think we’re doing enough to grow the footprint beyond the Eastern Seaboard as it is with Origin games in Perth and Adelaide, plus Redcliffe coming into the NRL next year and probably a team in WA down the track. And Auckland will host a Pacific Islands Test again this year between NZ and Tonga.

Paul Suttor (Roar expert)

Sydney is the traditional heartland of the premiership in Australia but it shouldn’t have the divine right to hosting the grand final every year. The match should be auctioned off to the highest bidder which has a stadium with at least 50,000 seats – ticket prices are already high for a grand final so if the stadium is too small it will mean they go into astronomical territory.

(Photo by Bradley Kanaris/Getty Images)

A grand final outside of Sydney makes it more of an event too. Some of the ones at ANZ Stadium have had a bit of a meh feeling about them with the same teams going at it. At least if it was at a different venue it would make it more memorable.

Penrith’s breakthrough win last year will naturally live long in their memories but the fact it was held at Brisbane makes it unique.

Danielle Smith (Roar expert)

Not necessarily to the highest bidder, but the Grand Final definitely should be shared around and not just be kept in Sydney.

There are so many fans from around the country and over in New Zealand that would love to witness a Grand Final live, and so many fans in Sydney that have never been to one and have no interest in ever going that have a whinge and try to stop progression because of tradition. We aren’t just a Sydney based competition anymore. 

Mary Konstantopoulos (Ladies Who League)

I think moving the Grand Final around the country (potentially even overseas) is a great opportunity to grow the game and take it to new audiences. 

However, I prefer that this be thought about critically rather than threatening to take it to another location because the facilities in a certain state are not perceived to be adequate.

(Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

AJ Mithen (Roar expert)

Auction it to the highest bidder. If that bidder wants to pay for 3-5 grand finals up front, all the better. Cash is cash, the grand final is likely to be a night game and it’s a TV show so the location is largely irrelevant. 

Having said that, there’s probably an iron tight legal document somewhere that means it has to be in Sydney … 

Stuart Thomas (Roar expert)

Everything in rugby league is for sale and the NRL Grand FInal should be no different. Whilst there is always a group of people determined to cite tradition and symbolism when it comes to where the game’s ‘big dance’ should be played, the truth is that the departures from the Sydney Cricket Ground and subsequently the Sydney Football Stadium, were indicative of the need to move with the changing face of professional sport and maximise profit and exposure.

Whilst the broadcast deal is significant, clubs still run losses each season, supported by the powers at be. It would be foolish to knock back additional funds that could be added to the pie, for the sake of some odd belief that Sydney is the home of rugby league.

Mike Meehall Wood (Roar expert)

I’m happy for it to stay in Sydney for purely selfish reasons, as I live here, but I don’t see why it couldn’t move.

Certainly, if you got enough of a lead-in, it could and would sell out anywhere. It’s stupid to start talking about moving the 2022 GF now, and is a nakedly political move from Peter V’landys (quelle surprise) but if they said Perth 2023/Adelaide 2024 I wouldn’t be bothered at all.

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