Queensland demands more NRL finals after stunning 2021 success

Barring another Covid-style catastrophe Queensland is unlikely to host another grand final until 2046 but local business and tourism leaders are having none of that.

Buoyant business and tourism leaders are calling for more NRL finals to be played in Queensland after the stunning success of the 2021 season, climaxing in Sunday’s blockbuster decider at Suncorp Stadium.

The thrilling Penrith Panthers v South Sydney showdown, played before a cut-back crowd of 39,322, was the highest-rating grand final in four years, attracting more than 3.2 million TV viewers.

It brought to almost 140,000 the number of fans who flocked to finals games across Queensland as the Sunshine State stepped up to save the NRL competition from a threatened Covid shutdown.

But barring another Covid-style catastrophe, Queensland will not get another grand final for more than two decades, with NSW holding a contract to host the decider until 2046.

However, business and tourism leaders say Queensland should at least make a play for more NRL finals which were held this year in front of bumper crowds in Mackay, Rockhampton, Townsville and the Sunshine Coast as well as at Suncorp.

Panthers supporters celebrate victory in the 2021 NRL Grand Final match between the Penrith Panthers and the South Sydney Rabbitohs at Suncorp Stadium. Picture: Chris Hyde/Getty Images

“We should absolutely go for it,” Chamber of Commerce and Industry Queensland executive Amanda Rohan said.

“We already host Magic Round, we saved the NRL competition this year and we did it in style.

“Rugby league is such a big part of the Queensland culture and if the NRL can’t share the grand final around, we could at least be given some finals matches.

“We’re hosting the Olympics in 2032 so we have 10 years to position Brisbane and Queensland as a sporting and events capital to rival Melbourne.”

Queensland Tourism Industry Council chief executive Daniel Gschwind said Queensland had proven itself as a world-class sporting event host in recent years with the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, last year’s AFL grand final and now the NRL grand final.

He said securing the 2032 Olympics showed the state had come of age and there was now ‘an incredible array of opportunities’ to attract more major sporting events, new franchises and relocating sports bodies.

“There are plenty of opportunities but there has to be a sensible business approach - we don’t want to pay over the odds for events,” he said.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk predicted Queensland would one day host another NRL grand final.

“If the weekend proved anything, it’s that Queensland can do the NRL grand final as well as anyone,” she said.

“It may be the first time we’ve hosted the grand final but we’ll be doing what we can to make sure it’s not the last.”

The grand final, won by the Panthers 14-12, drew a national TV audience of 3.2 million people with 2.2 million viewers in the key five metro markets.