The day the music died at the NRL grand final? Say it ain’t so

September 22, 2026 — 3:00pm

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This year’s NRL grand final will be as uncomfortably silent as Sunday dinner with your family. For the first time since the NRL’s inception in 1998, the big game – to be held at Accor Stadium on October 4 – will have no pre-game entertainment.

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

I guess the thousands of fans who already bought tickets to the game are just supposed to pack their Bluetooth speakers?

For the NRL, it’s an embarrassing development. The pre-game show is one of the grand final’s lasting memories. We all remember where we were when Tina Turner belted out 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’s shot from ageing).

Locals........

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