Tickets for Sunday’s NRL grand final between Newcastle and the Sydney Roosters sold out on Monday morning, as ARL Commission chairman Peter V’landys thanked NSW Premier Chris Minns for scrapping planned trackwork that threatened to leave tens of thousands of Knights fans stuck on buses. Transport for NSW has confirmed extra trains will run between Newcastle and Sydney for the sold-out Accor Stadium decider.
Grand final sells out
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, ticket sales for Sunday’s NRL grand final were exhausted shortly before midday on Monday. The Newcastle Herald’s grand final hub on Monday called the game a sell-out after public and membership sales windows opened for the Knights’ first grand final in 25 years.
The Knights booked their place with a 22-14 preliminary-final win over Penrith at Accor Stadium on Sunday, covered live by The Sporting Base. They face the Roosters at Accor Stadium on Sunday 4 October, with kick-off listed at 7:30pm AEST on Transport for NSW’s event page.
V’landys and Minns clear the track
The SMH reported that V’landys rang Minns early on Monday after NRL officials were told buses could replace trains between Newcastle and Wyong on grand final day. V’landys said Minns “immediately rearranged the trackwork” and that the NRL and Newcastle fans “cannot be more appreciative of that action.”
“Chris Minns is one of the most can-do people you’ll ever see,” V’landys said, per the SMH. “If it’s possible, he’ll get it done. And he wasn’t going to let 30,000-plus Newcastle fans down, so he immediately rearranged the trackwork.”
Transport NSW officials indicated the scheduled Sunday works would be moved to another day, the SMH reported. A travel alert that had flagged buses replacing trains was updated to say the planned trackwork would not go ahead and that extra services would be added between Newcastle and Sydney, with coach services on standby if disruption occurs.
How fans get to Accor Stadium
Transport for NSW describes the NRL and NRLW grand finals as sold out and says hundreds of additional trains and buses will run to Sydney Olympic Park. Valid match tickets include travel on Sydney Trains, NSW TrainLink Intercity services within the stated bounds, metro, light rail, ferries and major event buses. The agency also confirms additional train services on the Central Coast and Newcastle Line and Hunter Line before and after the game.
Knights fans already faced delays getting to Sunday’s preliminary final after a freight-train issue at Warnervale, the SMH noted.
For more NRL coverage, see The Sporting Base’s report on Newcastle’s 22-14 win and the Cleary injury and Cleary’s World Cup absence.
