The National Rugby League "is being inundated with offers from interstate and overseas to host the grand final but ANZ Stadium management has defiantly refused to give up hope of retaining the game’s showpiece event during the four-year period when it undergoes a major refurbishment," according to Brent Read of NEWS LIMITED. While Stadium Australia Group CEO Daryl Kerry said that "he had no interest in seeing the debate sink into a squabble over a handful of grand finals, he also wants to sit down with the state government and the NRL to discuss the situation." He said, "I hope this doesn’t become a squabble over one, or two, or three grand finals. I hope common sense prevails. Whatever that means, I am never going to advocate so strongly there are no alternatives. Clearly there are always going to be alternatives." The Queensland, Victorian and West Australian governments, along with Auckland super stadium Eden Park, "have already expressed an interest in hosting the grand final" while ANZ Stadium is undergoing a $700M ($540M) facelift.
The most likely scenario "would appear to be the NRL moving two of the four grand finals while ANZ Stadium undergoes an overhaul, with Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium and Melbourne’s MCG the favourites." The game’s governing body "is likely to secure upwards" of A$20M ($15M) for the two games as the Queensland and Victorian governments match wallets and egos to secure the game’s showpiece event (NEWS LIMITED, 4/18).
