If you were to ask any rugby league fan what their one wish was for the NRL's ‘Big Dance', the most likely answer would be, "bring back the daytime Grand Final."
While the idea would spark the return of one of the best days out in Australian sport, a new competitor would enter the fold, outshining the last two teams standing in the NRL - the sun.
The ultimate winner, undefeated year after year, our simmering sun has become a major boon for unprotected Aussies, from its athletes to its fans.
While the NRL is genuinely considering the return of daytime Grand Finals, as well as capitalising on the major success of midday clashes, the league is also wary about the risk that hot days can bring to rugby league buffs.
The NRL, which has had its fair share of skin cancer-inflicted stars, has backed any opportunity to combat the life-changing disease.
The 2025 NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos saw the league take major steps towards tackling skin cancer, with a free skin check truck sitting outside Accor Stadium for fans to stop by.
While the sun has never been completely outshone, a couple of Brisbane-based mates are working tirelessly to combat its effects, and are hoping to assist the NRL in their sun-stopping efforts.
Provided by the Australian Cancer Foundation, the truck was another reminder of what the Naturally Cooked boys are preaching - skin cancer is no joke.
Queenslanders Jake Brown and Lachlan Baxter launched Naturally Cooked, a transformative and preventative sunscreen, to change how young Australians think about sun safety.
“Having a beer with six of your mates, knowing that four of you are going to have a skin cancer cut out before you reach your pension, it just feels like something we should do something about,” Brown said.
The battle against the disease has been backed by numerous NRL stars as well, who have unfortunately been forced to face the cancer head-on in one way or another at some point.
The practice of skin checks was one adopted by the likes of Dolphins star Oryn Keeley, who went for a check-up at the Australian Skin Cancer Foundation's Mobile Skin Check Truck.
The visit proved to be more important than he could've ever imagined, with specialists identifying a suspicious lesion, which Keeley went on to have biopsied.
The result was the discovery of a Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC), the most common form of skin cancer, which was eliminated due to its prompt discovery.
His case served as a reminder not only to get checked, but to take preventative action to avoid future skin issues.
The same message was relayed by NRL legend Ray Price and his wife Sandy, who both have suffered from melanoma diagnoses in recent years.
Speaking to Melanoma Institute Australia, Price said, “If you don't get checked, you can only get disappointed.”
The boys over at Naturally Cooked not only want to combat the risk of skin diseases like the ones that Keeley and the Prices endured, but want to make the practice of preventative action, a normal one.
“It's all connected,” says Brown.
“Sun safety and mental health, both are about prevention, about making it normal for blokes to look after themselves and each other.”
Their goal is to ensure all Australian men, not only the ones on the field, are ensuring that they're practicing sun safety.
Beyond those precautions, Naturally Cooked is aiming to create a community of blokes who look after each other's mates.
Naturally Cooked donates 10% of profits to TIACS, a mental health service that provides free support to tradies and blue-collar workers.
They've also partnered with Skin Check Champions, a national charity helping Australians access free and accessible skin checks in the communities that need them most.
The risk of the deadly disease is that many people don't even know the first signs of it, with NRL personality Paul ‘Fatty' Vautin revealing he suffered from the cancer without even knowing.
“I had a patch of what I thought was dry skin on my face, but I went to the doctor to get it looked at … the next thing I knew I was being told that I was on the way to developing skin cancer,” the 61-year-old told the Sydney Morning Herald.
The dangers of the sun may never truly be eliminated, but, with the help of Australia's own Naturally Cooked, we may just see those risks reduced tremendously as footy fans eagerly await the return of the daytime Grand Final.
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One afternoon in the sun won’t kill anybody.
If the NRL is worried about melanoma they could hand out ree sachets of sun cream to everyone walking in.
That would be great publicity for them, as well as the fans.