The NRL is a sport based around tradition, and perhaps none more so than the sport's grand final, the league's biggest game to decide it's champion each year.
Since the inception of the NRL as we know it in 1998, the grand final has become synonymous with Stadium Australia, a.k.a Accor Stadium, the ground having hosted all but two of the events in league history - the first in '98 being held at the Sydney Football Stadium, and the COVID-ravaged 2021 season played entirely at Suncorp Stadium in Queensland.
But one NRL team is looking to change this, with the Melbourne Storm pitching a radical change that would see the league's most important game held south of the border for the first time.
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Storm boss pitches plan to poach NRL Grand Final
According to The Daily Telegraph, Storm CEO Justin Rodski is in the midst of compiling a plan to have the NRL Grand Final played in Melbourne.
Rodski has called upon the Victorian government to support the plan, which would see the match played at the MCG, where the league has already played numerous State of Origin games in the past.
"It’d be the biggest NRL grand final crowd ever and if the Storm were playing in it would obviously be very special," Rodski said.
"We can be creative, dynamic and more progressive with our thinking, and then we can move quickly on decision making.
"I wouldn’t rule it out in the future."
While the NRL has traditionally held the match at Accor Stadium, the relationship between the league and the NSW Government has broken down in recent years, and with no deal existing beyond this season, could open the door to see the location change more regularly.
"We were hoping to have an exclusive arrangement with the NSW government," ARLC chairman PEter V’landys said in 2022.
"Unfortunately, that is not the case. It opens the door for a Super Bowl-type concept or whoever can give us the best deal for the game.
"It could go anywhere. It’s a destination week, it’s a major event.
"You’ve got to remember we do have four teams in Queensland."
For now, however, the grand final remains in Sydney, set to be played on Sunday, October 6.
