Learn how to watch the NRL Grand final in New Zealand with our quick start guide to live streaming. The biggest rugby league competition in the world, final is held in October each year and we’ll give you the full low down on how to watch the event.
What is the NRL Grand Final?
The NRL Grand Final, otherwise known as National Rugby League Grand Final, is the country’s biggest sporting event and ardent fans and non-fans refer it as Australian rugby league football.
It has made waves in the first year that it was launched in 1999 where the NRL Grand Final saw a record-breaking attendance of 107,999 at an Australian rugby league game.
It has also been mainly held at Sydney’s Stadium Australia which was also the hosting venue for the 2000 Olympic Games.
It has always been a tradition for the pubs to broadcast the grand final after closing hour every Sunday.
Initially, the game was always aired during the late afternoon until Nine Network requested for a preferring starting time of 7pm. An agreement was reached eventually that the grand final would commence at 5pm AEDT.
NRL Grand Final Previous Years
The NRL Grand Final had a function called the NRL Grand Breakfast where it saw hundred of guests and teams itself that were in live national television held in the week before the game and by 2015, it was scrapped permanently.
Many renowned local and international artistes would partake in the NRL Grand Final where most of them would perform at the opening ceremony and during the national anthem as well.
The Australian Army would also be deployed by delivering the official trophy of the NRL otherwise known as the Provan-Summons Trophy in a helicopter for a grand start to the game. In 2010, the Government of New South Wales successfully secured the Grand Final for $45 million until 2022 at Stadium Australia.
After The Final Whistle
At the end of the grand final, a presentation ceremony is held to award the winning team with premiership rings. The best player of the match would be selected from the Australian national team sectors and he would be awarded with the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal for his contribution and efforts.
The final trophy would be presented to the winning captain by none other but the Prime Minister of Australia himself.
NRL Grand Final Background
The NRL Grand Final had early origins where first grade rugby began in 1908 in New South Wales. The first premiership game was contested at the Royal Agricultural Society Showground. The Souths defeated the Easts 14-12.
From 1912 to 1925 there were no final systems in place. Nonetheless, in the years 1915, 1922, 1923 and 1924, a match was played as a tiebreaker to determine the season’s premiership winner.
From 1926 onwards, the finals were played in a different system called Argus where it produced a deciding game in two various ways. In present-day, the deciding match has been explicitly termed a grand final after using a variety of systems.
There is also no distinction made between grand finals played under the authority of different governing bodies.
All of these deciding games are now considered to be in the grand finals, regardless if they were referred to as such at the time or not.
This year, the 2019 NRL Grand Final will be the decisive game of the rugby league season.
It will be the last Grand Final to be held at Sydney’s ANZ before being temporarily closed for renovations until further notice.
Watch NRL Grand Final NZ
Date: October 6th 2019
NZ Broadcaster: Sky Sports NZ
Australia: Channel 9 (Free)
UK: Sky Sports UK
Best Option: Channel 9
You can watch the NRL Grand Final using Channel 9 Australia via their official app. To bypass the geo-restriction you can use a VPN software from PureVPN which is the most affordable and reliable provider from our extensive testing.
PureVPN is available for $2.88 per month, and allows you to watch TV from foreign countries all over the world legally. You still need an account with international websites but most free to air providers offer free account creation.
How To Use PureVPN with Channel 9?
To get started you need to visit PureVPN and use our exclusive discount which gives you the best price on their services.
You can pay with credit/debit card as well as Paypal, Alipay, PaymentWall and Bluesnap which offer a range of features depending on your country of payment method.
Once you’ve paid, you’ll receive an email with your login details. Make a note of these and then proceed to choose the device type you wish to install their application on.
If you were planning to use your laptop to watch the NRL Grand Final then download the app for your device, Windows or Mac.
You can use PureVPN’s extensive app coverage which includes Chromecast, Smart TV’s, Roku, Android TV boxes, Amazon Fire TV, Linux or router level vpn.
Once installed, login to your account and choose an ‘Australia based server.’
Now visit the Channel 9 app or website, create an account and start streaming the NRL Grand Final.
Checkout a more detailed guide.
Why We Recommend PureVPN?
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Aside from geo unblocking, PureVPN offers secure browsing, ISP throttle bypass, no logs, a money back guarantee and 24×7 customer support. You have nothing to lose except great entertainment.
Aelwyn is based in the UK and has a masters in security. He’s studied further in the United States while working for companies such as Google and Cisco. He loves rugby and has played professionally too.