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Brisbane Broncos players didn\u2019t get to sleep until after midnight on the eve of Sunday\u2019s grand final because of the loud music coming from the nearby Knockout Outdoor festival.<\/p>\n
Broncos players complained about the noise that blasted through the Pullman at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night. They slept in on Sunday morning as a result.<\/p>\n
The Olympic Park precinct was heaving with people. NSW Police were called to Sydney Olympic Park just before 1am. Paramedics treated a 26-year-old man before he was taken to Concord Hospital where he died. Another man \u2013 a 21-year-old \u2013 died in the city after attending the festival.<\/p>\n
The Penrith Panthers wanted to stay at the Pullman but were not given the choice leading up to the grand final. The Broncos moved into the hotel on Saturday after training at Accor Stadium, shifting from the Coogee base they used earlier in the week.<\/p>\n
The NRL\u2019s finals policy states that the out-of-town team gets priority when it comes to accommodation, allowing the Brisbane Broncos first crack at the Pullman Sydney Olympic Park.<\/p>\n
It was where the Panthers stayed last year on the eve of the decider against Parramatta and where they wanted to stay this year.<\/p>\n
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The Broncos stayed at Sydney Olympic Park on Saturday night,.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Brook Mitchell<\/cite><\/p>\n Given the Broncos called shotgun, the Panthers instead chose to base themselves out of the Park Royal in Parramatta.<\/p>\n They stayed in Parramatta before last weekend\u2019s preliminary final against the Warriors because the New Zealand-based side got to stay at the Pullman across the road from Accor Stadium.<\/p>\n South Sydney boss Blake Solly<\/strong> has defended the club\u2019s decision to allow their players, including Latrell Mitchell<\/strong>, to play in the Koori Knockout in the Central Coast over the weekend.<\/p>\n Solly said he was not only supportive of the players taking part in the Indigenous rugby league carnival, but encouraged them to play despite the drama surrounding Josh Addo-Carr<\/strong> on Saturday.<\/p>\n Josh Addo-Carr was caught up in an incident during the Koori Knockout.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n Mitchell pulled out of the end-of-season Test matches for Australia because of a finger injury. The Rabbitohs say he did not require surgery and was given permission to play with a stent.<\/p>\n Some clubs are uncomfortable with their players featuring in the tournament, fearing injury dramas, but don\u2019t want to be accused of being culturally insensitive by banning their players.<\/p>\n Yileen Gordon<\/strong>, who played in Sunday\u2019s State Championship grand final for the Bunnies, travelled to Tuggerah on Saturday to sign his name into the tournament in case his team made it through to the finals on Monday. It shows how much the tournament means to the Indigenous community.<\/p>\n The Penrith Panthers are this week expected to sit down with Jarome Luai<\/strong> to begin negotiations about an extension.<\/p>\n His three-month notice period with his old management company expires on October 15, meaning he can officially join another agent in a fortnight\u2019s time. The Panthers want to know if he is keen to get a deal done before that date. The conversation will be had later in the week.<\/p>\n One of the happiest people inside Accor Stadium on Sunday night was 11-year-old Nicholas Tadros<\/strong>, the young survivor of the horror January helicopter crash at Sea World that claimed the lives of his mother Vanessa and three other people.<\/p>\n When ARLC chairman Peter V\u2019landys<\/strong> discovered his passion for the Panthers, he organised for Nicholas and his father Simon to attend the game as a guest of the NRL in one of their corporate suites. It was a fantastic gesture that was greatly appreciated.<\/p>\n Nick Tadros outside Accor Stadium on Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n The youngster has been through hell over the past nine months. He lost his mother and his right leg in the crash that devastated the family.<\/p>\n The Herald<\/em> spoke to him on Friday when he found out that he had been invited. His response was priceless. \u201cI can\u2019t believe it. I can\u2019t wait,\u201d he said. \u201cI wish we could just go now.\u201d<\/p>\n Nicholas\u2019 favourite player is Jarome Luai, who first visited him in hospital back in February and built a special bond with him in his darkest hour.<\/p>\n One of Australia\u2019s richest and most well-known athletes is a Brisbane Broncos superfan \u2013 and had the red carpet rolled out for him to attend grand final day.<\/p>\n Former The Open champion and Australia\u2019s best golfer, Cameron Smith<\/strong>, was going to be a part of the Broncos\u2019 inner sanctum in the lead-up to the grand final after planning to be in Sydney for the decider.<\/p>\n But the 30-year-old had a change of heart midweek. In his next LIV Golf event in Saudi Arabia in two weeks he could pocket $28 million as the league\u2019s top pointscorer at the end of the season.<\/p>\n As close as he is with several Broncos players, he didn\u2019t think it would be the right preparation for potentially one of the biggest paydays for an Australian athlete.<\/p>\n Cameron Smith wasn\u2019t at the grand final on Sunday.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n Before Sunday\u2019s grand final, the Brisbane Broncos had decided that they wouldn\u2019t travel to the United Kingdom for the World Club Challenge if they were to win the premiership. The Broncos are part of the NRL\u2019s season-opener in Las Vegas next year and did not want to have to add a trip to England to their itinerary. They wanted to play the World Club Challenge in Brisbane.<\/p>\n Off-contract centre Morgan Harper<\/strong> has had a medical assessment with the Parramatta Eels as they consider offering the former Sea Eagles player an NRL lifeline.<\/p>\n Harper was expected to head to the Super League at the end of the year, but the Eels are looking to add some depth to their backline stocks.<\/p>\n Morgan Harper celebrates a Sea Eagles try.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n It is expected he will join Parramatta for pre-season training on November 1.<\/p>\n Reggie the Rabbit<\/strong> was at Accor Stadium on Sunday for the Bunnies\u2019 State Championship triumph over Brisbane Tigers.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, the 79-year-old inside the suit, club favourite Charlie Gallico<\/strong>, succumbed to heat and couldn\u2019t finish the match.<\/p>\n Souths players and staff celebrate the State Championship victory.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>Getty<\/cite><\/p>\n He was seen celebrating the 42-22 win on the sidelines in the dying moments of the game.<\/p>\n For the past few months, Bronson Xerri<\/strong> has been wrestling and training with former UFC middleweight champion Robert Whittaker<\/strong>.<\/p>\n As part of his preparation to return to the NRL, Xerri has been working with Whittaker and other instructors out at Gracie Jiu Jitsu in Smeaton Grange in Sydney\u2019s southwest three times a week. Whittaker is a jiu-jitsu black belt.<\/p>\n \u201cI came in against some of the best fighters in Australia that have been wrestling all their lives,\u201d Xerri said. \u201cI\u2019m getting smashed three times a week, but it\u2019s good for me. It\u2019s such a disciplined sport. I respect those boys so much and I think it\u2019s made me fit and ready to return to training. If I can wrestle and stand my ground with those boys, I can back myself jumping on a footy field.\u201d<\/p>\n There\u2019s an interesting clause that has been inserted into Jahream Bula\u2019s<\/strong> new deal with the Wests Tigers that the club chose not to announce. The final year of the deal in 2027 is actually a mutual option.<\/p>\n The Tigers were at loggerheads with Bula\u2019s management in recent weeks due to the club\u2019s reluctance to agree to a clause that would have allowed the boom rookie to leave in 2027 if the Tigers failed to make the finals in the previous three seasons.<\/p>\n Jahream Bula.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n It\u2019s a similar clause that the club agreed to with Stefano Utoikamanu<\/strong>. Some at the Tigers were unaware of the prop forward being granted such a clause and there was a strong resistance from the board to allow Bula to have the same clause inserted in his deal.<\/p>\n The club instead agreed to insert a mutual option for 2027. If Bula takes up the option he is guaranteed $800,000 in 2027, but if the club takes up the option it will be for $900,000. The deal, which has been significantly upgraded over the next two years, is worth about $2.7-$2.8m over four years.<\/p>\n Sydney Roosters coach Trent Robinson<\/strong> is preparing to head to Nepal this month to climb Island Peak in an effort to raise awareness and funds for the Mark Hughes Foundation. He will join Newcastle old boys Danny Buderus<\/strong> and Bill Peden<\/strong> on the climb. In 2019, Robinson joined 19 other climbers, including Mark Hughes<\/strong> himself, to climb Mount Kilimanjaro over nine days through trying conditions and high altitude. They raised almost $700,000 at the time.<\/p>\nSolly backs Koori Knockout contingent<\/h3>\n
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Luai to meet with Panthers this week<\/h3>\n
Young Panthers fan\u2019s day made<\/h3>\n
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Broncos fanatic Smith changes mind on flying visit<\/h3>\n
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Broncos buck World Club Challenge<\/h3>\n
Eels eye Harper move<\/h3>\n
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Grand final heat floors Souths mascot<\/h3>\n
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Xerri mixes martial arts ahead of NRL comeback<\/h3>\n
Mutual option part of Bula\u2019s mega-deal<\/h3>\n
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Mountain to climb for Robinson, Buderus, Peden<\/h3>\n
Graham misses retirement parade<\/strong><\/h3>\n