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Andrew Webster’s ultimate NRL grand final preview · The Front

• 0:03
  Speaker 1: From The Australian, here's what's on the front. I'm Claire Harvey.
• 0:06
  Speaker 2: It's Thursday, October 1, 2026. If you thought the AFL
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Grand Final was entertaining, strap in for a rugby league spectacular.
• 0:18
  Speaker 2: The Flash Harry Sydney Roosters versus the hardscrabble Newcastle Knights.
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: There's already been tears, ambulances, dust-ups and dramas. And we've
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: got the game's best commentator, who's already scooping everyone. Andrew
• 0:33
  Speaker 2: Webster is here in just a moment. Andrew Webster is
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: a sport columnist for The Australian, and on Wednesday he
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: broke a big story that the NRL's pre-game entertainment, which
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: was going to be one-hit wonder tones and I until
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: she decided she didn't want to play her one hit,
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: is going to involve the legendary former player Jai Arrow,
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: who's been diagnosed with motor neurone disease. he's going to
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: be doing a lap of honour of the field before
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: the game starts. Webby, you kind of ruined the NRL
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: surprise there. Are they cross with you?
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: No, I didn't mean to ruin their surprise, I've got
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: to say. I will have to say this though, I
• 1:12
  Speaker 3: was on top of the Tones and I withdrawal story
• 1:16
  Speaker 3: before it broke and I regretted not singing it to
• 1:18
  Speaker 3: the heavens because I didn't realise it was going to
• 1:21
  Speaker 3: turned into the major talking point in the lead-up to
• 1:24
  Speaker 3: last week's preliminary final. So when I heard that they
• 1:27
  Speaker 3: had organised this tribute for Jai Arrow, a lap of
• 1:30
  Speaker 3: honour of Acor Stadium, 20 minutes before kick-off in Sunday's
• 1:34
  Speaker 3: grand final, I wasn't going to not report it. Peter
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: Volandis was quite good when I spoke to him. He said,
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: I can't confirm or deny. But I've got to say,
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: it's weird, Claire, since the story broke on the Australian website,
• 1:45
  Speaker 3: it's polarised opinion. A lot of our readers have been
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: on one camp thinking it's a beautiful gesture of for Jai,
• 1:52
  Speaker 3: who was battling motor neurone disease, while others seem to
• 1:55
  Speaker 3: think that it's a little bit exploitative in the sense that,
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: you know, the NRL have tried to fix up their
• 2:01
  Speaker 3: own mistake of not being able to secure a grand
• 2:04
  Speaker 3: final performer by this tribute to Jai. So I'm sort
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: of of the opinion that if Jai Arrow and his
• 2:10
  Speaker 3: family are okay with it, then I'm okay with it too.
• 2:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, there've already been a lot of sort of emotional
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: moments for Jai Arrow. People were doing arrow gestures as
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: their try celebrations. There've been fundraising rounds where fans have
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: been contributing for him. He came onto the field for
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: his 100th game for a few moments.
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: A moment you will never, ever, ever forget.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: But Jai Arrow is very seriously affected already by MND.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: It's not easy to watch him trying to speak and
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: trying to walk, is it?
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: No, not at all. I spoke to him a few
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: weeks ago before where he played his 99th and 100th game.
• 2:47
  Speaker 3: And he said to me that when he gets nervous,
• 2:52
  Speaker 3: his body stiffens. And when he gets emotional, his body stiffens.
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: And you talk to people in South Sydney who have
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: known him, you know, his whole career. particularly at South.
• 3:01
  Speaker 3: They said that he's just been, you know, in the
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: last month or so, he's found it very hard to talk,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: very hard to eat and also very hard to laugh,
• 3:10
  Speaker 3: which is hard at South because humour is the way
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: that they're dealing with this very terrible situation that he's in.
• 3:16
  Speaker 3: He's got to say, stop making me laugh because I
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: can't breathe. So it's taking hold of him very, very quickly.
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: But I think the way that the game has wrapped
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: its arms around Jai is, you know, it's a pretty
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: ruthless game, rugby league and The way that it's been
• 3:29
  Speaker 3: there for Jai Arrow and his family, I think it's
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: quite admirable. It says a lot about the power of
• 3:34
  Speaker 3: the game and the power of sport, really. Regardless of
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: whether you think it should be happening or not, this
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: tribute on Sunday night, I don't think there'll be a
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: dry on the house when it happens. For sure.
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: There's talk of maybe a quartet of legendary Australian performers
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: singing the Gerry and the Pacemakers' song, You'll Never Walk Alone,
• 3:52
  Speaker 2: as Jai walks around.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: If this involves Silverchair, I'm going to blow up, Webby.
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Who do you think it's actually going to be?
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: I don't know, but I know it's not Silverchair.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: Okay, thank God.
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: I've been assured it's not Silverchair.
• 4:05
  Speaker 1: I don't think they speak to each other anyway.
• 4:08
  Speaker 2: No, no.
• 4:08
  Speaker 3: There were reports earlier today that it was going to
• 4:11
  Speaker 3: be Jimmy Barnes and Kate Sobrano. That's not right either, so... No.
• 4:15
  Speaker 1: So they're scraping for another one-hit wonder then?
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: I hope not. I hope not. But I don't think
• 4:19
  Speaker 3: the focus will be the musicians. The focus will be John.
• 4:22
  Speaker 3: It should be said, like, he was going to be
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: front and centre of the normal cavalcade of retiring players
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: on Sunday night, but because of this opportunity to go further,
• 4:31
  Speaker 3: that's why it's happened.
• 4:36
  Speaker 2: You say rugby league's a brutal game, and it absolutely is.
• 4:39
  Speaker 2: We got a great illustration of that in the preliminary
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: final last weekend between the Knights and the Panthers. That
• 4:45
  Speaker 2: means the Knights are going in without their hooker, Phoenix Crosland,
• 4:49
  Speaker 2: and the game faces at least a short-term future without
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: Nathan Cleary because of a pretty gruesome hip-drop tackle that
• 4:56
  Speaker 2: Phoenix Crosland made on Cleary and broke his leg.
• 4:58
  Speaker 3: Oh, he's hurt! He's hurt! Oh, Cleary!
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: This is not.
• 5:05
  Speaker 2: This is horrid!
• 5:07
  Speaker 1: Has that made it impossible for the Knights to win
• 5:10
  Speaker 1: without Phoenix?
• 5:11
  Speaker 3: Oh, it makes it very tough. I mean, they're going
• 5:12
  Speaker 3: to be without their starting hooker, who's been probably their
• 5:15
  Speaker 3: best player, most consistent player all year, Dylan Brown, their
• 5:18
  Speaker 3: $ 13 million halfback. He hasn't been there since round 21.
• 5:22
  Speaker 3: Their two props, Trey Mooney and Jacob Saifidi, are both
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: out with suspension and injury.
• 5:29
  Speaker 2: But.
• 5:30
  Speaker 3: No one expected them. I didn't expect them to get
• 5:31
  Speaker 3: through South in the first week of the finals, let
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: alone the Warriors in front of nearly 50,000 at Eden
• 5:36
  Speaker 3: Park in Auckland, let alone the Penrith Panthers in a
• 5:40
  Speaker 3: preliminary game. down a man for 44 minutes of that game.
• 5:44
  Speaker 3: So write them off at your peril, Claire, write off
• 5:48
  Speaker 3: the Newcastle Canites at your peril. There's something really special
• 5:52
  Speaker 3: about what's going on with that club at the moment,
• 5:54
  Speaker 3: the way that they've defended, the way that they just
• 5:58
  Speaker 3: seem to get around each other whenever they make big
• 6:00
  Speaker 3: bone jarring tackles or or pull off these incredible plays.
• 6:05
  Speaker 3: And the thing for me is, and having went to
• 6:08
  Speaker 3: university in Newcastle on the start of my career up
• 6:10
  Speaker 3: there and knowing what that town and that city and
• 6:12
  Speaker 3: that region, the Hunter Valley region is like, when you
• 6:15
  Speaker 3: have a connection between them and their football team, their
• 6:17
  Speaker 3: NRL team, It's pretty special and the way that every
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: single player, particularly their captain, Calum Ponga, almost, you know,
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: his voice catches every time he talks about Newcastle in
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: every post-match interview. For a jaded old sports hack like me, Claire,
• 6:32
  Speaker 3: it's been very refreshing to know that fairytale is still
• 6:35
  Speaker 3: an existing sport.
• 6:37
  Speaker 2: The fairytale is pretty incredible. Wooden spoon last year to
• 6:40
  Speaker 2: premiership contenders this year.
• 6:42
  Speaker 3: There's almost no words.
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: The Knights are now priced, though, at somewhere around $ 2.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: 80.
• 6:48
  Speaker 1: I think the Roosters are closer to $ 1.
• 6:50
  Speaker 2: 45. What I really want to know, Webby, is why
• 6:52
  Speaker 2: didn't you tell me this was going to happen when
• 6:53
  Speaker 2: the Knights were $ 64 in the preseason?
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: Claire, if you knew how poor a sports punter I am,
• 7:00
  Speaker 3: you wouldn't have listened to me anyway. I did back
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: them last week, I've got to say. I did like
• 7:04
  Speaker 3: their price against the Panthers, but, yeah, they kept defying
• 7:08
  Speaker 3: the odds. You know, all the stats, the players that
• 7:10
  Speaker 3: the Roosters have got, The advantages that the Roosters have
• 7:14
  Speaker 3: always got because of the fact that their chairman, Nick Politis,
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: their benefactor, really, Nick Politis, is worth $ 5 billion and
• 7:22
  Speaker 3: has been there for 33 years. And they've got this
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: incredible centre of excellence at Allianz Stadium. They don't have
• 7:29
  Speaker 3: a big junior base, but they have the ability to
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: handpick the best junior players and put them up in
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: a beautiful academy in a terrace house across the road
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: on Moorpark Road. They've got all the advantages over Newcastle.
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: So they should be easily the favourites to win this
• 7:44
  Speaker 3: grand final. But as I said, like there's something going
• 7:50
  Speaker 3: on in Newcastle at the moment and I don't think
• 7:53
  Speaker 3: you can dismiss it.
• 7:54
  Speaker 2: It has been a hell of a ride for the Knights,
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: not just this year's adventure from Woodenspoon to today. But
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's not that long ago that they were
• 8:01
  Speaker 2: being owned by billionaire Nathan Tinkler, who then went bankrupt
• 8:05
  Speaker 2: and wasn't playing the players. They had a catastrophic injury
• 8:08
  Speaker 2: on field to one of their players. They had a
• 8:10
  Speaker 2: super coach, Wayne Bennett, who even he wasn't able to
• 8:12
  Speaker 2: turn things around for them. However, Newcastle is not the
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: coal mining working class town it used to be. It's
• 8:19
  Speaker 2: now full of sort of IT executives with, you know,
• 8:22
  Speaker 2: matcha lattes in.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Their home offices. Is it still the sort of, you know,
• 8:26
  Speaker 1: the workers versus the silver tails?
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: Oh, I think it still has that feeling about it
• 8:30
  Speaker 3: at all. To be honest, it's more of a university town,
• 8:33
  Speaker 3: more than anything. Like Newcastle Uni, who's produced some of
• 8:35
  Speaker 3: the great journalists over the years, has, you know, is
• 8:39
  Speaker 3: very much a uni city in many ways. But you
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: go up into the valley... You know, it is. It's
• 8:44
  Speaker 3: still a knockabout working class region in many ways. And
• 8:48
  Speaker 3: even if you're not a coal miner, you certainly have
• 8:49
  Speaker 3: that ethos when you live in the Hunter Valley. And
• 8:52
  Speaker 3: I think that's been a really important part of Justin Holbrook,
• 8:55
  Speaker 3: the coach's MO this year. He really, he took them
• 8:58
  Speaker 3: up to the coal mines in the valley. He showed
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: them exactly who they're representing. It's a good, hardworking, working
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: class part of the world. And I think they feed
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: on that too as the underdogs.
• 9:08
  Speaker 2: You mentioned Dylan Brown. The replacement for him was Sandon Smith,
• 9:11
  Speaker 2: this incredible young player who scored two tries in the
• 9:14
  Speaker 2: preliminary final, including one that I think no one's will come.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: He took a quick tap after a penalty and just,
• 9:20
  Speaker 2: you know, sprinted over the line while the Panthers were
• 9:23
  Speaker 2: still working out what was happening.
• 9:30
  Speaker 1: He is remarkable, isn't he?
• 9:31
  Speaker 3: He's been good. Not wanted by the Roosters or they
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: had no place for him by bringing in Daly Cherry
• 9:36
  Speaker 3: Evans and look at him go. That's just one thread
• 9:39
  Speaker 3: of a very amazing, as I said, fairy tale that's
• 9:41
  Speaker 3: unfolding at Newcastle. At the moment, you talk about Tinkler before.
• 9:45
  Speaker 3: I covered all that in great detail when it happened.
• 9:48
  Speaker 3: People sort of forget 10 years ago when Nathan Tinkler
• 9:51
  Speaker 3: bought the club, he was at a function with Wayne
• 9:53
  Speaker 3: Bennett and he joked on stage. He said, we'll win
• 9:56
  Speaker 3: four premierships in the four years that Wayne Bennett's here.
• 9:59
  Speaker 3: In the end there, Nathan Tinkler built a house of cards.
• 10:03
  Speaker 3: Wayne ended up going with one year to go of
• 10:05
  Speaker 3: that four-year deal. Nathan Tinkler didn't pay not just the players,
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: not just the staff. He didn't pay the guy that
• 10:13
  Speaker 3: used to do the barbecue midweek after training. They got
• 10:16
  Speaker 3: very dire there. They handed the license back to the NRL,
• 10:19
  Speaker 3: who basically took control of the club, fed them a
• 10:21
  Speaker 3: little bit of money to keep the whole operation going.
• 10:24
  Speaker 3: They were so close to collapsing and not being able
• 10:28
  Speaker 3: an NRL team anymore. It's not funny. It was only
• 10:30
  Speaker 3: 10 years ago, Chloe, and here they are in a
• 10:32
  Speaker 3: grand final. That's what I mean. It's a fairy tale
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: that you couldn't really script.
• 10:40
  Speaker 2: Coming up, the superstars saying goodbye on Sunday night. MUSIC
• 10:57
  Speaker 2: For Daly Cherry Evans, who you just mentioned, it's his
• 11:00
  Speaker 2: last game. He's retiring after an incredible career, much of.
• 11:03
  Speaker 1: Which was at Manly. It's also the last game for
• 11:05
  Speaker 1: Marky Mark, Mark Nwanganitawase.
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: Well said.
• 11:08
  Speaker 1: Thanks.
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: I've been practising.
• 11:10
  Speaker 1: He's going back to rugby union. How is the game
• 11:13
  Speaker 1: letting him leave? That can't be happening, can it?
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I don't think the game could do anything about
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: keeping Mark Nwanganitawase. Oh, well done. Oh, well, I've had
• 11:21
  Speaker 3: to learn how to say it. It's funny, when he
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: first started at the Roosters, I remember– talking to Nick Politis,
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: I was going, Nick, you're going to have to learn
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: how to say his surname. He said, I know, I know.
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: And I think he's finally wrapped his tongue around saying it.
• 11:35
  Speaker 1: The commentators all learned this year too. I've noticed that.
• 11:38
  Speaker 2: They all went from saying Marky Mark in the first
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: couple of months to now they can all say it.
• 11:42
  Speaker 3: It's a commentator's dream, that name. No one can say it.
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: He's an unbelievable talent. Look, as I said, I don't
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: think they had any say in trying to keep him.
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: I don't think it really mattered how much money they
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: threw at him. It's the chance to represent the Wallabies
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: at Home World Cup next year. But I've got no doubt,
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: like a lot of those outside backs who are interchangeable
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: between league and union, Joseph Swale, he being one of them,
• 12:06
  Speaker 3: I reckon that he'll be back in the NRL at
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: some point. I think that's going to be the future
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: for both rugby union and rugby league, where in the
• 12:13
  Speaker 3: outside backs, as I said, where the skills are fairly transferable.
• 12:17
  Speaker 3: In terms of Dally Cherry Evans, you talk about fairy tales.
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: He won a company's first year at Manly in 2000.
• 12:24
  Speaker 3: And then he went from basically a messiah to a
• 12:28
  Speaker 3: pariah in many respects. He was a different guy as
• 12:31
  Speaker 3: a young player. He spoke very articulately. He didn't really
• 12:35
  Speaker 3: fit into the blokey culture of rugby league. That alienated
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: him in many respects within Manly and also, and they
• 12:41
  Speaker 3: deny it but it's true, the Queensland Maroons. He came
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: out the other side of that and led Queensland to
• 12:46
  Speaker 3: remarkable series victories, none more so than in 220 during COVID-19.
• 12:51
  Speaker 3: when no one expected Queensland to win that series, the
• 12:53
  Speaker 3: worst Queensland team ever, and he engineered that series win.
• 12:58
  Speaker 3: And it all fell apart with Manly in the end,
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: and everyone thought the Roosters were mad to pick him up.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: They thought he was too old, and he was exactly
• 13:04
  Speaker 3: what they needed to nurse a young Sam Walker through
• 13:08
  Speaker 3: the formative years of his career. And they're in a
• 13:11
  Speaker 3: grand final in the, as you said, $ 1. 40 favourites. So
• 13:14
  Speaker 3: if he can win a premiership in his final game
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: in the NRL, he's the second most capped player NRL
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: player behind Cameron Smith, whose records will never be beaten.
• 13:23
  Speaker 3: But yeah, there's lots of storyline for us sports hacks
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: out there on Sunday.
• 13:27
  Speaker 1: Oh, it's amazing.
• 13:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, Sam Walker and Daley Cherry Evans, both of
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: them have this incredible kicking game, don't they, that just
• 13:33
  Speaker 2: kind of sets up the rest of the team for
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: whatever they kind of want to do.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: They're so commanding.
• 13:36
  Speaker 2: And Sam Walker's just come back from an injury that
• 13:39
  Speaker 2: everyone thought he would be out for a year with.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Like, it's amazing.
• 13:43
  Speaker 3: Ankle surgery a month ago. Unbelievable. And he's a favourite
• 13:46
  Speaker 3: for the Clive Churchill medal as the man of the match.
• 13:49
  Speaker 1: Yeah, amazing. Well, Webby, look forward to deconstructing it with
• 13:52
  Speaker 1: you after the game. Thanks so much.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: Very good. Thanks, Clay.
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: Andrew Webster is a columnist with The Australian. You can
• 14:02
  Speaker 2: catch all the action from this weekend's NRL Grand Final
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: live at theaustralian.com.au.