The last weekend in September is one of the busiest times of the year for Australian domestic sport with the very best of men’s Australian rules football, and men’s and women’s rugby league on show.
It all starts with the parade that stops a city on Friday, as the teams in the 2023 AFL grand final make their way through Melbourne streets in front of adoring fans. The AFL decider itself on Saturday, then the NRLW and NRL taking centre stage on Sunday – which is when daylight savings are introduced.
Here is how you can watch the three grand finals across two codes and two days:
AFL grand final: Collingwood v Brisbane
Start time: 2.30pm AEST, Saturday 30 September, MCG in Melbourne
How to watch: The 2023 AFL grand final will be broadcast exclusively on Channel Seven and SevenPlus. While until this point in the season all AFL games were able to be streamed on Kayo and Fox Footy, only Seven has the rights to the grand final. Seven’s coverage will take in the official pre-game entertainment, rock band KISS, from noon, before the grand final coverage proper starts at 2pm.
Guardian Australia will be across the pre-game news and build-up, as well as goal-by-goal action from the MCG, with a live blog.
If you are one of the many fans who missed out on grand final tickets this year, but you still want to soak up the occasion, there are live sites in Melbourne and Brisbane.
Collingwood will show the game on a big screen at its home at Olympic Park’s AIA Centre. The AFLW clash between Collingwood and Essendon at 11.05am has been moved from the AIA Centre to Punt Road Oval to allow fans to move to the live site after the women’s game. The decider will also be screened in Federation Square and Yarra Park next to the MCG as part of the AFL’s Footy Festival.
In Brisbane, the Lions are putting on a family-friendly event at South Bank where the grand final will be streamed live on a big screen.
NRLW grand final: Gold Coast Titans v Newcastle Knights
Start time: 3.55pm AEDT, Sunday 1 October, Accor Stadium, Sydney
How to watch: The NRLW grand final will broadcast on Nine and 9Now in Australia, as well as on paid streaming service Kayo, and on Sky NZ in New Zealand. The women’s decider is part of a double-header with the men’s NRL grand final later on Sunday. You can also follow with Guardian Australia’s minute-by-minute live blog of the game.
In Newcastle, the match will be shown at the exhibition centre, NEX Wests City, as part of a grand final day event. It is free to attend but there are limited numbers and registrations is required.
The Titans are encouraging fans unable to make it to Sydney for the decider to head to their home at The Club at Parkwood Village to watch the game, although it’s not clear if it will be shown on a big screen as part of a special event or on existing screens within the club.
NRL grand final: Penrith Panthers v Brisbane Broncos
Start time: 7.30pm AEDT, Sunday 1 October, Accor Stadium, Sydney
How to watch: The NRL grand final will also be broadcast on Nine, 9Now, Kayo and Sky NZ, after the women’s game has finished. The coverage on 9Now will include dedicated player cameras following the Broncos’ Reece Walsh and Panthers’ Jerome Luai throughout the game. The Guardian will cover the build-up and minute-by-minute action from the match in Sydney with a live blog.
In Brisbane the men’s showpiece will be on big screens at the Broncos Leagues Club and Treasury Casino. In Penrith, the local council is hosting a free live site at The Mondo and the Panthers Leagues Club is holding a ticketed event, although children can enter for free.
