The showdown between the Panthers and Eels will culminate in the crowning of the 2022 premiers in the NRL Grand Final. The game will be aired on Channel Nine and 9Now, with 16 hours of coverage from 7:00 am on Sunday, October 2. The main game’s kick off is set for 7:30 pm AEST.
In the first ever Grand Final between the two teams, Nine’s Wide World of Sports will celebrate the Battle of the West with 16 hours of wall-to-wall live coverage of rugby league’s biggest day from Accor Stadium, including the exclusive broadcast of the NRL Telstra Premiership Grand Final.
Beginning at 7:00 am at Accor Stadium, Weekend Today will take their whole show to the ground for a special Grand Final edition, followed by Sports Sunday at 10:00 am and the Sunday Footy Show at 11:00 am. This leads into live coverage of the NRL State Championship Grand Final between Panthers and Norths Devils at 1:00 pm, before the NRLW Grand Final between the Knights and Eels at 3:45 pm.
The Panthers have dominated the 2022 season, and will come into the game as hot favourites after winning the minor premiership. Halfback maestro Nathan Cleary and Origin representatives Brian To’o, Jarome Luai, Isaah Yeo, plus the man whose intercept try won them last year’s Grand Final, Stephen Crichton, playing behind the forward pack, will be primed to rip into their crosstown rivals.
They are facing an Eels team desperate for the club’s first Grand Final victory since 1986, as they aim to break the longest premiership drought in the NRL era – 36 years.
The fate of the blue and gold rests in the hands of the fearsome front-row duo of Junior Paulo and Raegan Campbell-Gillard, with captain Clint Gutherson and Mitchell Moses ready to throw caution to the wind in an effort to score an underdog win in front of a sold-out crowd.
Before the game, the pre-match entertainment will begin at 6:30 pm, with Australian rock ‘n’ roll legend, Jimmy Barnes performing with Diesel and special guest Josh Teskey, alongside award-winning Indigenous singer-songwriter Emma Donovan. Eurovision 2022 star Sheldon Riley and Aussie hip-hop legends Bliss n Eso will also feature.
The NRL Grand Final kicks off at 7:30 pm on Sunday, October 2 on Channel Nine and 9Now.