Melbourne Storm willing to spend a boatload of cash to buy the NRL grand final

The Melbourne Storm has thrown the race to host the NRL decider on its head, in a move that will have massive ramifications for the game, PAUL KENT writes.

The changes brought about by Covid might be lifelong.

Two days after Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy urged the NRL to relocate the grand final to Melbourne, an apparent reward for their unfailing support of the game, Storm owner Matt Tripp is preparing a bid to buy the NRL grand final.

He wants the whole show. Bought and paid for and put on at the MCG, leaving the NRL nothing to do on game day but sit back and smell the big fat cheque.

Tripp will do all the rest.

There is little the Storm do that is not impressive.

He is one of those tremendously wealthy people who has the ability, if he really likes something, to put his money where his kisser is and go out and buy it.

He did it with the Storm and now he plans to buy the grand final, even with no guarantee the Storm will play in it, despite the form.

All Tripp needs is to make the numbers work, which he is in the process of doing.

“There could be a way we buy the grand final this year, if there is a number,” Tripp said on Tuesday.

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The Melbourne Storm want to buy the 2021 NRL grand final.

The planning is still in its early stages and Tripp was still wondering what kind of numbers he would need to make it work.

Tripp was inspired by the NFL model where NFL franchises form bid committees to buy the right to host future Super Bowls, much like future Olympic venues are decided.

“If there is a way we can give the NRL comfort, if it is played down here, we will look at it,” he said.

“It’s all a conversation worth having.

“From my perspective I would love the game to be in Melbourne.”

ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys knows the problems that could arise but, in principle, loves the idea even though it strays a long way from tradition.

“I have the utmost respect for Matt Tripp so naturally we would look at it, he’s a brilliant mind,” V’landys said.

The game has always been staged by the governing body in partnership with the venues.

“We’ve got to be agile so we’re open to anything,” V’landys said.

“Whatever returns the most for the game, we’ll look at.”

Storm owner and chairman Matt Tripp (left) is keen to help grow the game in Victoria, by bringing the NRL grand final to Melbourne. Picture: Ian Currie

Covid has wrecked the NRL’s long term agreement with the NSW Government to host the grand final in Sydney because the NSW Government can’t ensure there will be crowds, bringing the contract to a force majeure.

The possibility of a grand final with no possibility of a crowd would allow the NRL to take the game to market to avoid crushing financial losses.

The assumption was that the game would naturally relocate to Brisbane and be played out of Sydney for the first time in 114 years, but that assumption took a savage blow on Saturday when the Queensland Government shut down the NRL competition.

The Delta cluster is growing by the day with 16 new cases on Tuesday.

At heart, Tripp is planning to do nothing different than what the NSW Government did. With the Queensland Government showing interest in hosting the grand final some years back the NSW Government rallied and put together a long term deal to keep the game in Sydney.

It was a business decision.

The Queensland Government is currently hoping to do the same now, with Victoria’s Labor Government sitting back with some interest and no doubt hoping to pick the grand final up for about 40 cents if both NSW and Queensland are shut down to crowds.

With NSW unable to guarantee crowds at ANZ stadium, the grand final could be on the move. Picture: Getty Images.

Tripp has no doubt the Covid disruptions have opened the way for the game to be privatised with the right guarantees.

Tripp said he would need some sort of assurance about crowds or, failing that, a hybrid contract with the NRL that included contingencies for a grand final played with and without a full crowd and anywhere in between.

The MCG has hosted five State of Origin matches, with an average crowd of 68,700 and the all-time attendance record of 91,513 in 2015.

Tripp is talking to Victorian politician Martin Pakula, the Sports and also Tourism Minister, on Wednesday and will raise it with him.

The NRL has little more than a month to decide where the grand final will be played.

V’landys is about to begin negotiations with the Queensland Government about playing the grand final in Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium but said Brisbane is far from its only option.

The possibility of playing the grand final in Perth, Adelaide and even Darwin have also been raised.

The idea of the grand final being hosted by a private promoter has never before been considered.

Covid has changed everything, possibly forever, and it has nothing to do with the state of damaged lungs.

Originally published as Melbourne Storm willing to spend a boatload of cash to buy the NRL grand final