Tones and I ProfileNRL boss Peter V’Landys has threatened to host next weekend’s grand final with no pre-match entertainment after negotiations reportedly broke down with Tones and I. The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the sticking point was the artist’s refusal to perform her #1 hit Dance Monkey.
V’Landys has pledged to instead commit $1 million to junior rugby league, money he claims is better spent than on “11 minutes of entertainment”. While it is unclear whether the NRL had actually offered Tones and I $1 million, the Nine Network—who earlier this year struck a seven-year $5.3 billion deal with the code—is said to be unhappy with the decision, with the pre-match entertainment a key viewing draw for what is one of the year’s highest-rating television events.
Earlier this year, V’Landys floated the potential of having global superstar Olivia Dean play the event after last year drawing Teddy Swims. While Tones and I’s Dance Monkey was a global smash in 2019, her star power is not that of Dean, who kicks off a massive national tour the week after the grand final and topped this year’s triple j Hottest 100. The contrast between the NRL’s failed attempts to secure pre-match entertainment and the AFL’s much-hyped Kylie Minogue performance this weekend is stark.
The AFL has touted the performance as the “biggest spectacle ever seen” at the MCG, with G Flip (who currently holds the #1 song on Australian radio), Michael Paynter and Mike Brady also on the lineup.
"You spend money to get outcomes and I think it's a better outcome to get kids that can't afford to play with their mates, gear etc, to play rugby league," V'Landys said. "I'm a fan of Tones and I. She is a great performer, no doubt about that, and she's got some great songs, but as I said, we both decided to go to a different direction. We consider a lot of artists over a period of time, but as I said, I've been toying with this idea for a couple of years now, about giving the money to kids to play rugby league rather than a musical act."
Pre-match entertainment is a tradition of both the NRL and AFL across decades, with each code having their hits and misses over the years. Last year’s AFL grand final featured Snoop Dogg, roundly cited as an iconic moment, however V’Landys hailed his luring of Teddy Swims as a bigger win, saying that “We actually got a vocalist. None of this doof, doof stuff. This bloke can actually sing...”
With Katy Perry, The Killers, Kiss and Robbie Williams in recent years, the AFL hands down attracts the biggest names, while over the same period the NRL has had The Kid Laroi, Jimmy Barnes, Ian Moss and the cast of the Tina Turner musical, before trying to match the AFL's international flavour with Swims in 2025.
Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young hit out at the codes for ignoring Australian artists, so this year’s lineups of Kylie and Tones could have hit the right notes for Australian talent.
With a couple of weeks to go, there’s still time for V'Landys to pull a rabbit out of his hat, but if he stands firm, the national anthem might be as much music as we get before the big game. Whether it's the Roosters, Dolphins, Panthers or Knights, chances are Australia will have forgotten by kickoff and still be grooving to Kylie from the week before.
