The 2025 NRL Finals is in full swing at the completion of Week One with the New Zealand Warriors and Sydney Roosters sent packing after losing their respective elimination clashes.
We are down to six teams.
Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos have progressed to Week Three and a weekend off after they sealed victories in two classic games.
The Victorians outmuscled Canterbury while a 94th minute, golden point field goal, from Brisbane veteran Ben Hunt in one of the all-time great showdowns, full of incredible moments and controversial decisions.
For the longest time, fans have been forced to accept that as we get closer to grand final day, kickoff times get later and later, long into the night.
Despite the change, from winter to spring and beautifully warm September days, finals footy has become a vampire – regularly scheduled for 8pm or later.
Which made the announcement a week ago from the NRL even more surprising.
With just two games to be played in Week Two, the NRL confirmed the family-friendly, Sunday afternoon semi-final was back.
On Monday night, the NRL confirmed Brisbane would host a Sunday afternoon preliminary final against either the Bulldogs or the Panthers.
Helping the NRL’s case was the fact that an average of 1.054 million viewers tuned in for the Raiders and Broncos on Sunday in the only daytime fixture of the weekend.
While we have been programmed to believe that the high-and-mighty television broadcasters control the game and get the final say – it’s nice to see the NRL push back.
Perhaps the power is starting to swing back the way it should?
Over 65,000 fans are expected at Accor Stadium on Sunday for the cutthroat Canterbury versus Penrith blockbuster.
With a new broadcast rights deal on the horizon, it’s a show of strength from the NRL to schedule the afternoon fixtures, instead of simply appeasing their one-time overlords.
It’s been a long time since we were graced with daytime footy in Week Two or Week Three.
You’d have to go all the way back to season 2007… ignoring the outlier in 2021 during COVID where the AFL scheduled their grand final on a Sunday night at the Gabba.
The NRL moved Penrith and the Storm to 4pm at Suncorp.
And while you assume in ’07 that it would be the old Sydney Football Stadium, which hosted some of the greatest semi-final moments our great game has seen, you might be shocked to know that the last daytime, Week Two semi, took place at the old home of the North Queensland Cowboys – Dairy Farmers Stadium.
Back then and since their inception in 1995, the Cowboys almost exclusively played the late game when at home, on a Saturday night due to the sticky tropical conditions.
Townsville was averaging 27°C in September of ’07.
The Cowboys then confirmed pre-match they would be wearing their predominantly white away jersey which forced the visitors from Auckland to wear their completely black strip.
Warriors couldn’t hold the ball in the heat with captain Steve Price saying his side didn’t see the footy for the final 20 minutes of the game.
North Queensland ran out 49-12 winners.
The following week saw the last daytime preliminary final.
SFS, yeah?
Maybe Lang Park?
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Wrong on both counts with the last match played on a Sunday afternoon and not a ray of sunshine hit the players.
Not because it didn’t want to.
It was because it was under a roof at Melbourne’s Telstra Dome [Marvel Stadium].
Almost 35,000 fans turned up to see the Storm qualify for the grand final with a 26-10 win over the Parramatta Eels.
The Storm took a 10-4 lead into the break, but the Eels couldn’t match the Storm in the second stanza with Matt King scoring a double.
Melbourne would go on to win that year’s grand final and again in 2009 against Parramatta.
They’d later be stripped of both premierships due to cheating the salary cap.
