This weekend sees the conclusion of the domestic rugby league season with the NRL and NRLW grand finals taking place in Sydney at the sold out Olympic stadium today.
There are three massive matches on Sunday:
- The State Championship grand final
- The NRLW grand final
- The NRL grand final
Here's everything you need to know about today's big matches.
What time is kick off?
The NRL grand final is set to kick off at 7:30pm AEDT.
That's right, AEDT — today is the first day of daylight saving time, so there's a few different times you need to be across in the other states.
- NSW, ACT, Victoria and Tasmania: 7.30pm AEDT
- Queensland: 6.30pm AEST
- South Australia: 7:00pm ACDT
- NT: 6:00pm ACST
- WA: 4.30pm AWST
The pre-game entertainment will start at 6:30pm AEDT though.
What time does the NRLW grand final kick off?
The NRLW grand final is set to begin at 3:55pm AEDT, (2:55pm AEST, 3:25pm ACDT, 2:25pm ACST, 12:55pm AWST) with the pre-game entertainment from 3:30pm AEDT.
What time does the State Championship decider kick off?
The State Championship kicks off at 1:30pm AEDT (12:30pm AEST, 1:00pm ACDT, midday ACST, 10:30am AWST).
Who is playing in the NRL grand final?
The minor premiers Penrith Panthers will take on the Parramatta Eels in the NRL decider.
It's the first time these two sides have ever met in a grand final.
Penrith are looking for their second consecutive premiership in what is their third-straight NRL grand final.
The Panthers have won three premierships in their history.
Parramatta have not made the decider since 2009 and have not won a premiership since 1986, when they beat Canterbury-Bankstown 4-2 at the SCG.
The Eels have a total of four premierships to their name — all in the 1980s — and have been beaten finalists five times.
This year, the two teams have met three times, with the Eels winning both regular season matches — 22-20 in Penrith and 34-10 in Western Sydney — before the Panthers triumphed in week one of the finals 27-8.
Who is in the NRLW grand final?
The Newcastle Knights will meet the Parramatta Eels in the NRLW decider.
Neither side has ever made a decider before in the competition's five-year history.
Despite winning just one game in the regular season, the Eels thumped last year's premiers, the Roosters, 24-10 at Lang Park last weekend to reach the final.
The Knights, who went winless in their inaugural NRLW season earlier this year, finished second on the ladder and made short work of last year's beaten finalists St George Illawarra in the other semi-final, 30-6.
When these two teams met in round three earlier this year, they played out a thriller, with a Kirra Dibb penalty goal the only difference for the Knights, who came out on top 18-16 at Hunter stadium thanks to a late Olivia Higgins try.
What is the State Championship?
The state championship pits the winners of the New South Wales Cup against the winners of the Queensland Cup.
Penrith are the New South Wales Cup champions, having beaten Canterbury-Bankstown 29-22 last weekend.
The Panthers had finished second on the New South Wales Cup ladder to the Newtown Jets, winning 16 and drawing 1 of their 22 matches.
In the sunshine state, Norths Devils, based in Nundah on Brisbane's north side, claimed the Queensland Cup with a 16-10 victory over Redcliffe Dolphins in the grand final.
The Devils finished fourth on the ladder with a 12-7 win-loss record.
This match has taken place annually since 2014 but, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the first since 2019.
After Queensland sides North Queensland and Ipswich won the first two challenges, New South Wales has held a monopoly over the title, winning the next four titles.
Penrith won the title in 2017, comprehensively beating the PNG Hunters.
Norths have never appeared in the decider.
How can I watch the NRL grand final?
The NRL grand final is exclusive to Channel 9 and 9NOW in Australia.
Meanwhile, the State Championship and NRLW grand final are also available on free to air, but you also have the option to watch those two matches on Fox Sports or Kayo.
International listeners can listen to both the NRLW and NRL grand finals live on ABC Radio Australia's FM stations in Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, Samoa, Vanuatu, and Timor-Leste from 2:55pm (NRLW) and 6:30pm PNG time.
The ABC will also have a live blog of the NRL and live radio coverage of all three, plus you can tune in on the ABC Listen app.
Who is providing the pre-game entertainment?
There will be two pre-game shows: one before the NRLW game and the other before the NRL.
Ahead of the NRLW decider, Mahalia Barnes, A.GIRL and Emma Donovan will collaborate to perform The Real Thing.
Then, before the NRL grand final, Jimmy Barnes will take to the stage.
He will perform alongside Diesel, Josh Teskey and Emma Donovan, plus Sheldon Riley of Eurovision fame and Bliss n Eso.
Who are the referees?
Ashley Klein will be the man in the middle for the NRL decider on Sunday night, with Grant Atkins sitting in the bunker.
Klein refereed all three State of Origin matches this year.
Kasey Badger will referee the NRLW final, with Adam Gee in the Bunker.
