- Club looking to ruin Penrith’s run to fourth straight title
- Kick-off at Sydney’s Accor Stadium will be on Sunday at 7:30 p.m.
The Melbourne Storm usually leave no stone unturned in their preparations for big games, but a wild dance party next to their team hotel the night before the NRL grand final will not have done them any favors for their clash with Penrith.
The Sydney Knockout Festival was held at the Sydney Showground, directly opposite the Storm’s accommodation at Olympic Park in Homebush, in the city’s west.
The sell-out event featured 40 musical acts performing across three stages from 2pm until late into the night on the eve of the grand final.
Described as the largest ‘hardest styles’ festival in the southern hemisphere, the party featured stars including rapper 21 Savage, grime hitmaker Skepta and international DJs including N-Virtal and Gunz for Hire.
It attracted large numbers of revelers, some of whom wore daring outfits at what organizers called “Australia’s largest outdoor music festival”.
The timing couldn’t have been worse for the Storm, who will need every ounce of their energy to prevent Penrith from claiming a fourth successive premiership when the match kicks off at 7.30pm on Sunday.
Penrith were disturbed by the Knockout party the night before their 2022 grand final victory over Parramatta, with some Panthers stars telling team staff they could feel the bass of the event through their hotel windows , according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
This year they chose to stay in Parramatta, west of the Olympic Park, rather than sleep in Homebush again.
Thousands of revelers (pictured) partied late into the night on Saturday as they enjoyed Sydney’s Knockout music festival, right next to the Melbourne Storm team hotel.
Described as the largest ‘hardest styles’ festival in the southern hemisphere, the annual event delayed preparations for the 2021 Penrith grand final when players had trouble sleeping.
Melbourne prevailed the last time the teams met in a grand final, winning the 2020 final 26-20.
But while much has been made of the squad changes experienced at Penrith over the past four years, the Storm have been undergoing a regeneration of their own.
Only four players from the Storm’s 2020 grand final squad – Jahrome Hughes, Cameron Munster, Ryan Papenhuyzen and Christian Welch – will face Penrith at Accor Stadium.
And while Penrith’s squad is now largely made up of players who came through their famous youth nursery, nine of the Storm’s 17 were recruited after the 2020 triumph.
“I was looking at the last team we had in a grand final in 2020. Nine of those 18 played us this year,” Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy said.
Storm stars including Ryan Papenhuyzen (pictured) were staying right across the street from the dance party, which featured 40 musical acts and lasted well into the night.
While partygoers like these two Knockout fans (pictured) lived it up in Homebush, the Panthers chose to stay further west in Parramatta to avoid all the noise.
“After losing them and obviously Cameron (Smith) was the big loss, our team has changed a lot in four years. It’s changed a lot.
Newly named Dally M medalist Hughes, the crafty Munster five-eighth and athletic fullback Papenhuyzen were the backbone on the grand final day of 2020, with the last of that trio winning the Clive Churchill Medal for man of the match.
But with Smith still as chief architect at the time, Bellamy said the team had undergone a change since 2020, and was quick to point out that injuries had meant the current spine was just getting going.
“It’s a different era with those guys,” he said.
‘These guys are basically starting out together. To be honest, they still have a little way to go.