Big League Weekly Edition 2019 - Grand Final

a fantastic end to a remarkable season

WELCOME to the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final. Grand final day is the most special day on the rugby league calendar, and this year promises to be something quite unique and memorable. The decider pits premiers Sydney Roosters up against Canberra Raiders; a match-up which gives us some very special storylines. The Raiders have not been in this position since 1994, and their journey to this point has been followed by an intense and quite remarkable sense of community from their supporters, which has been fantastic to witness. The Roosters are eyeing off an historic feat too, endeavouring to be the first team to win back-to-back premierships since 1992-93. Either result would be a momentous achievement, to be celebrated for some time. The Roosters also have the Cooper Cronk fairytale in their corner. Cooper will be…

welcome to the home of rugby league

ON behalf of the people of New South Wales, welcome to ANZ Stadium for the 2019 National Rugby League (NRL) Grand Final – one of Australia’s biggest annual sporting events. The NSW government, via its tourism and major events agency Destination NSW, is proud to host the esteemed NRL Grand Final in Sydney, further cementing the Harbour City as Australia’s home of rugby league. The NRL Grand Final attracts visitors from around the country and the world to Sydney. In the past five years more than 400,000 people have seen the action unfold live at ANZ Stadium, more than a quarter of whom were overnight visitors to Sydney. Whether you’re a local or you’ve come from afar to see who claims the coveted Provan-Summons trophy, I encourage you to embrace the community spirit…

growing on and off the field

WELCOME to the 2019 NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final. At Telstra, we have had a long-standing association with the NRL, a partnership that is almost 20 years long. This year, we’ve extended that association to include women’s rugby league and the NRLW Premiership. We have seen many highlights throughout the year, from the introduction of the Magic Round, the opening of Bankwest Stadium in Parramatta, Cameron Smith’s 400th game, and a thrilling, sold-out State of Origin match in Perth. I want to congratulate the Sydney Roosters and Canberra Raiders for reaching the pinnacle of the competition, the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final. Taking our sport to more people in more places is a mission both Telstra and the NRL share with high quality rugby league action on the NRL Official App. The Canberra Raiders had…

records will be set in epic encounter

THIS Sunday, one of rugby league’s long-standing droughts will be over. On one side, we have the Sydney Roosters, who could be the first team to win back-to-back premierships (not including the Super League) since the Broncos of 1992-93. On the other, the Canberra Raiders will play their first grand final since 1994, the year the club last won a premiership. After a season that has had it all, it’s fitting these two teams will battle to chalk up a record for a new era. The Roosters have yet again been one of the form teams, exhibiting incredible professionalism and showing time and time again they are one of the most complete outfits in the competition. The Raiders have scrapped harder to get here, but can hinge their season on playing for each…

no looking back on the game’s biggest day

NO matter whether you’ve played in three grand finals or this is your first time, it’s an awesome feeling knowing you’ve qualified for the most important game of the season. You play all year for the opportunity to be in this position and it’s a good feeling to be back after what we achieved in 2018. That said, last year is forgotten. It’s been a different journey this season and we’ve had new challenges to contend with. Our focus has been narrow ever since Round 1. We haven’t looked too far ahead and we haven’t looked back, and this week has been no different. Our next job is our next training session and that all leads to the final game on Sunday. We know there’ll be plenty of talk about possibly going…

fans give us the green light to enjoy the moment

LET’S turn Sydney green! Throughout the entire finals series, we’ve seen everything in Canberra turn green. We’ve had green sausages, green coffees, green pasta, green drinks, green lights – everything was green. Now it’s time to bring the green to ANZ Stadium for the grand final. The stadium holds about 80,000 people and I’m hoping for 50 or 60 thousand green jerseys. It would be an amazing atmosphere to have so many Raiders fans there in the one place. Our fans travel everywhere – a couple hours up the highway won’t stop them. Imagine hearing the Viking Clap with that many people. Hearing the Viking Clap and the roar of the fans really does make an impact on the players on the field – we can hear every single cheer and it…