A Sydney grand final may have been taken off the table this year thanks to the covid pandemic and lockdown restrictions, but that doesn't mean it's all bad news for the Harbour city.
The New South Wales government have a long-running contract with the NRL to host the grand final each year at Stadium Australia, and while that won't be possible this year, the deal has been extended by a year to make up for this season.
According to an The Daily Telegraph report, Sydney will now have the right to host the decider every year until 2046.
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Queensland holding the grand final this year was a foregone conclusion once the competition shifted out of Sydney about eight weeks ago.
With 13 teams moved to the south east corner of Queensland, the competition has been able to be run almost without a hitch, only one weekend impacted by a 24-hour postponement and no games cancelled at all.
It's a stunning result given the challenges the code has faced, and Brisbane, which has been yearning for a grand final for years, will finally get one.
According to the reports, it's understood the NRL have also been given assurances of funding for suburban stadiums.
New South Wales' plan for stadiums had seemed to be skewing towards the big stadiums, with a complete rebuild of the Sydney Football Stadium, and a revamp of the Olympic Park precinct on the agenda.
However, the Olympic Park project never got off the ground, it would now appear suburban grounds will be on the agenda, with Manly's Brookvale and Penrith's home ground apparently the first to be redone.
While no Queensland-based teams are expected to make the big dance, the Storm are as good as an adopted team in Brisbane and widely backed as favourites to take out the premiership.
A bumper crowd is likely to be on hand for Brisbane's decider, and while it won't happen again, it will raise questions surrounding whether it should be taken away from Sydney on a rotating basis.
It's something many league fans have previously called for, but NRL CEO Andrew Abdo said this was a "rare" opportunity to take the grand final away from Sydney.
“This season will always be remembered as the season when Queensland hosted us and allowed us to keep the season going,” NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo said.
“The grand final is a tradition and it is part of Sydney, part of the tradition of rugby league, so we are excited about bringing it back next year and the long-term future here.
“But given the fact we are where we are with lockdowns in Sydney, it is somewhat of a rare opportunity for us to take a whole finals series to regional Queensland fans and then have the grand final at Suncorp Stadium, which is such a historic stadium.
“It is an unusual opportunity but when you look back in history you will always remember why it was played at Suncorp this year.”
The grand final will be played on the evening of Sunday, October 3.
