{"id":901099,"date":"2026-09-22T08:54:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:54:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901099\/"},"modified":"2026-09-22T08:54:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-22T08:54:18","slug":"nrl-2026-grand-final-entertainment-can-be-saved-through-australian-music","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/901099\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026 grand final entertainment can be saved through Australian music"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

\"RobertRobert Moran<\/a>Spectrum deputy editor<\/p>\n

September 22, 2026 \u2014 5:00pm<\/p>\n

September 22, 2026 \u2014 5:00pm<\/p>\n

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This year\u2019s NRL grand final will be as uncomfortably silent as Sunday dinner with your family. For the first time since the NRL\u2019s inception in 1998, the big game \u2013 to be held at Accor Stadium on October 4 \u2013 will have no pre-game entertainment<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What is this, Footloose? How did we get here? Apparently the NRL lowballed their first choice, British pop angel Olivia Dean<\/a>, and then floundered in their negotiations with local hitmaker Tones and I<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"TonesTones and I performing at the 2019 AFL grand final.Getty<\/p>\n

I guess the thousands of fans who already bought tickets to the game are just supposed to pack their Bluetooth speakers?<\/p>\n

For the NRL, it\u2019s an embarrassing development. The pre-game show is one of the grand final\u2019s lasting memories. We all remember where we were when Tina Turner belted out <\/a>The Best at the Broncos-Dragons decider in 1993, or that other year when that other big-name artist and\/or band did that other thing (sorry, my memory\u2019s shot from ageing).<\/p>\n

Locals like to lampoon American sports\u2019 penchant for over-the-top glitz and glamour, but at least they have the right spirit. It\u2019s a belief that their game is important and worthy of celebrating. Have some pride in your product, NRL! You can\u2019t treat the game\u2019s biggest day with the casual indifference of your 24th wedding anniversary.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s especially humiliating considering the AFL \u2013 a sport where players spend 80 minutes struggling to pick up a ball \u2013 has living icon Kylie Minogue opening their grand final<\/a> at the MCG on Saturday (and G Flip as a reserve), and the NFL just shipped the Jonas Bros all the way to Melbourne<\/a> for an inconsequential season opener earlier this month.<\/p>\n

\"KylieKylie Minogue will lead the AFL grand final entertainment this Saturday. <\/p>\n

That the NRL couldn\u2019t book an act despite recently striking a goldmine deal with Nine and Foxtel worth $5.3 billion<\/a> from 2028 until 2034 is also galling. Where\u2019s all that money going to? Johnathan Thurston\u2019s array of sideline coats?<\/p>\n

It also feels like a missed opportunity since there\u2019s no shortage of international pop acts touring Australia at the moment. Beyond Dean, the likes of Lily Allen, Hilary Duff, Zara Larsson, even Ben Folds, are in town. Imagine the viral potential of pop-boy Conan Grey (also currently touring) belting Vodka Cranberry, his dramatic anthem of gay yearning<\/a>, in front of a stadium of frenzied Panthers fans?<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019ve also read that NRL chairman Peter V\u2019landys is apparently not a fan of spending money on \u201centertainment\u201d (not sure what he considers rugby league \u2013 art?), it should be noted that there are alternatives to the big-name international headliner. It\u2019s called \u201csupporting Australian music\u201d.<\/p>\n

At a time when festivals are folding<\/a> and touring has never been more expensive for up-and-coming acts, where local artists are battling the scourge of AI in music<\/a>, a platform as large as the NRL grand final is a valuable opportunity.<\/p>\n

\"SuperstarSuperstar Australian DJ Dom Dolla is coming to town. Why not give him a call?<\/p>\n

Think of all the local bands and artists who would benefit from being named as the final\u2019s pre-game headliner, endure weeks of being pilloried by Murdoch media for their \u201cwoke agenda\u201d and\/or \u201ccontroversial lyrics\u201d, and come through the other side convincing everyone that \u201cHey, they weren\u2019t that bad\u201d? It\u2019s a rite of passage for Australian musicians.<\/p>\n

Unlike V\u2019landys, I won\u2019t give up. There are still a couple of weeks until the big day; surely we can muster something together? Big names like Kevin Parker and Ninajirachi and Dom Dolla are in town and on tour; other brilliant locals like Jem Cassar-Daley<\/a>, Sidney Phillips<\/a>, Larissa Lambert<\/a> and Briggs<\/a> (now in hardcore version) have just released new albums that could use the promotional push of a grand final slot.<\/p>\n

Or the NRL could even recreate the best. I\u2019ve been told there\u2019s a Tina Turner impersonator performing at The Juniors in Kingsford next month. Have a heart, V\u2019landys, and open that chequebook. There\u2019s still time to make those lasting lifelong memories happen.<\/p>\n

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\"RobertRobert Moran<\/a> is Spectrum deputy editor at The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Robert MoranSpectrum deputy editor September 22, 2026 \u2014 5:00pm September 22, 2026 \u2014 5:00pm Save You have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":901100,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-901099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=901099"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/901099\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/901100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=901099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=901099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=901099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}