NRL grand final to be held at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane

Queensland has secured the 2021 NRL grand final amid Sydney’s ongoing COVID crisis.

Making the announcement from the Sunshine Coast, Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the “historic deal”, which followed negotiations with the Queensland government, would also include regional matches.

Suncorp Stadium is set to host the NRL decider for the first time. Credit: Getty Images

“Never in my lifetime did I think we would have an NRL grand final here in Queensland and finally that’s happened,” she said.

Depending on COVID restrictions at the time, Ms Palaszczuk said the game, on Sunday, October 3, would be played to a packed stadium of more than 50,000 people.

The deal will include six games in regional Queensland, with finals matches on the Sunshine Coast and in Townsville, Rockhampton and Mackay.

Ms Palaszczuk said the state government paid $4.6 million to secure the finals, in addition to “in kind” arrangements, including for police and stadiums.

Queensland has also secured the Magic Round for an additional year, which means it will be played in the state for another three years.

In addition, the deal with the National Rugby League guarantees two premiership games per year will be played in regional Queensland during the 2022 and 2023 seasons.

Queensland Sport Minister Stirling Hinchliffe said the deal would bring $19 million in economic benefits during the finals series over the next few weeks.

“That’s a huge benefit for our economy at a time when it needs it most, but not just in the south-east, across different parts of the economy,” he said.

In a first for Queensland, pop-up vaccination clinics will be trialled at some games, including in Rockhampton.

NRL head of football Graham Annesley said without Queensland, the continuation of rugby league would not have been possible.

“Who would have thought when we kicked off at the start of the year that we would be relocating the whole competition to Queensland just so we could get through the season and ... be here today, not only announcing a grand final in Queensland but a whole finals series in Queensland, off the back of transporting the whole competition here for the last few months,” he said.

The announcement means Brisbane will be the first city to have held both the NRL and AFL grand finals.

Earlier, NSW Tourism Minister Stuart Ayres said the state government had informed the NRL the southern state was unable to host the 2021 NRL grand final due to the coronavirus outbreak, but that it looked forward to welcoming the event back to Sydney in 2022.

“While it is very disappointing to miss out on this marquee event, it reinforces the importance of our community getting vaccinated so that events like the NRL grand final with crowds can safely return to our stadiums as soon as possible,” he said.