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NRL Grand Final

Sydney turned on The Living End, cheerleaders, bbqs and a crushing 40-0 victory by Manly Sea Eagles over Melbourne Storm.

Manly’s shattering win over Melbourne was the biggest in the NRL‘s 55 year history of grand finals.

Manly Sea Eagles crushed Melbourne Storm 40 – 0 to the euphoria of an 80,000+ crowd at ANZ Stadium.

The result reversed the fortunes of last year’s loss by Manly.

It was a win that bettered Eastern Suburbs’ 38-0 thumping of St George in 1975.

It represents Manly’s first premiership since 1996, and the first time since 1978 a team has been held scoreless in a decider.

Entertainment included The Living End, Anthony Warlow, cheerleaders and, umm, bbqs.

The second hour of the game will factor into Nine’s primetime share for the night, not to mention giving the network a big lead-in to its other shows including The Mentalist.

Source / Photo: Sydney Morning Herald

6 Responses

  1. There is nothing better than Grand Final day – the greatest day of the year. Channel Nine, as they have done all year, provided excellent coverage. I watched from 9am when the Wide World of Sports began, which was followed by the Grand Final editions of The Sunday Roast and The Sunday Footy Show.

    The thrilling 103-minute NSW Cup Grand Final and 87-minute Toyota Cup Grand Final were both brilliantly called by Andrew Voss. Make him the permanent Today sports reader I say.

    Then the big one – what a game. Manly thoroughly deserved it and what a way to send off the great Steven “Beaver” Menzies. The game has lost a true gentleman and champion.

    My only criticism is that Nine did go to 60 Minutes (in Sydney) a little bit early for my likely. Admittedly, it was around 7:50 pm and both early games went long but still. Last year Channel Nine interviewed all 17 Melbourne Storm players during the lap of honour, and had plenty of post game analysis. Granted last year was an evening final and that it was something like 10:30pm by the time they finished.

    Still, overall I think Nine did a great job and congrats to Manly for a very fine victory.

  2. nwest_mail: The cutaway for the news was only for Victorian viewers. NSW and Queensland showed the whole presentation and interviews (no idea about SA / WA). Due to both the first two games going into extra time, Nine were unable to show the scheduled news broadcast at 4pm, and I suspect that was part of the reason Victorian viewers saw the news instead the interviews and presentation.

    Queensland also had the advantage of being an hour behind NSW so they showed the news at 6:30pm local time (7:30pm AEDT) after the presentation.

  3. What a great game…more like what a great Shame! Pre match BBQ lids…what an extravaganza…not! Good first 15 minutes, then one way traffic! Like many others from my work, I turned off at half time and did not return. Maybe not as great for the nine ratings as they would have hoped.

    Worse news from those who did stay on and watch it all. Once the game was over, nine cut straight to the news….no interviews, no award presentations…not a great way to treat the true NRL fans!

  4. As Brisbane is one hour behind Sydney, only the last 30 minutes of Nine’s coverage (including the final minutes of the game and the post-match presentation) will be included in Brisbane’s primetime ratings.

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