{"id":609893,"date":"2026-09-24T04:20:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T04:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609893\/"},"modified":"2026-09-24T04:20:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T04:20:09","slug":"nrl-grand-final-decider-set-to-have-no-pre-match-entertainment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/609893\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL grand final: Decider set to have no pre-match entertainment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cWe wish the NRL nothing but the very best for their event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her management has also pushed back on reports that negotiations broke down over the NRL wanting her to perform her global hit Dance Monkey, saying no deal had been signed or confirmed in writing.<\/p>\n

The Sydney Morning Herald claims Tones And I, whose real name is Toni Watson, loathes the song. Rather than scramble to find another major artist with less than two weeks until the grand final, Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V\u2019landys has decided the money would be better spent elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cRather than giving a performer $90,000 a minute, we would prefer to give it to grassroots,\u201d he said on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that the entertainment is our game. It\u2019s more the media that put themselves into a frenzy who we get as performer.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut when you look at it realistically for 11 minutes, it\u2019s not worth it. People will come to the game with or without it. We believe the money is better spent on junior rugby league.\u201d<\/p>\n

V\u2019landys told Nine\u2019s Today show that he has received many emails from young Australian performers who have offered to play.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have even had an international star that has said if we donate money to his charity that he would possibly do it,\u201d V\u2019landys said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have plenty of entertainment. Our entertainment is our game. We have a festival of rugby league all day.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a bit like buying a cheeseburger for the pickle. You don\u2019t do that. People come to our game for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Australian singer Shannon Noll has also offered his services to perform on grand final day, making a post on Instagram, while New Zealand-born former INXS singer Jon Stevens has reportedly volunteered.<\/p>\n

Stevens has played at numerous grand finals in the past.<\/p>\n

Commentator and Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould has suggested Jimmy Barnes<\/a>, who has performed many times in a solo capacity and with his band, Cold Chisel.<\/p>\n

Last year, American singer Teddy Swims performed before the Brisbane Broncos went on to beat the Melbourne Storm<\/a>, while historic performers at the grand final include Tina Turner<\/a>, OneRepublic and Billy Idol, although a power issue meant the latter couldn\u2019t actually perform.<\/p>\n

The AFL<\/a>, a rival code to the NRL, will have Kylie Minogue performing at the Melbourne Cricket Ground this weekend before the Fremantle Dockers face the Brisbane Lions.<\/p>\n

While the NRL won\u2019t have a headline musical act, there will still be plenty happening at Accor Stadium, with the State Championship grand final, won by the Warriors last year, and the NRLW decider also taking place.<\/p>\n

The finalists for all three games will be determined this weekend.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cWe wish the NRL nothing but the very best for their event.\u201d Her management has also pushed back…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609894,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[74,9092,3017,1135,17400,94155,156,5904,2949,5504,10813,305,36446,14731,9381,25900,111,139,1536,7805,577,69,58832,4627,40478,2853,1551,4625,61,183939,4518,102,1339],"class_list":["post-609893","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-after","tag-against","tag-ahead","tag-australian","tag-collapse","tag-decider","tag-entertainment","tag-final","tag-finding","tag-following","tag-grand","tag-have","tag-headline","tag-league","tag-musical","tag-negotiations","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-next","tag-no","tag-nrl","tag-nz","tag-opted","tag-performer","tag-prematch","tag-replacement","tag-set","tag-singer","tag-to","tag-tones","tag-weeks","tag-with","tag-without"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609893","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609893"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609893\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609894"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609893"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609893"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609893"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}