NRL grand final LIVE: All the latest updates and scores as Penrith take on Melbourne at Accor Stadium

Here’s a handy guide so you can schedule your bathroom breaks, BBQ breaks or trips to the bottle shop and make sure you don’t miss any of the day’s big events…

• 1:00 p.m.: Doors open to the public at the Accor stadium.
• 13:20: NRL State Championship Grand Final begins: Newtown Jets vs Norths Devils.
• 15:55: The NRLW Telstra Women’s Premiership Grand Final: Sydney Roosters vs Cronulla Sharks.
• 6:30 pm: The pre-game entertainment show, headlined by international star The Kid LAROI.
• 19:30: Main event begins: Melbourne Storm vs Penrith Panthers

• 9:30 p.m.: Post-match celebrations, including trophy presentations and individual awards.

Penrith faced the same problem when they decided to stay in a hotel just meters from the Accor Stadium in 2021. Some of their stars told the team staff and as a result stayed in Parramatta to avoid a repeat, but it is possible that Storm hasn’t noticed. of what they were going to find on Saturday night.

OK, advertising guru John Singleton won’t be on the fighting street if Melbourne gets the chocolates tonight, but even he’s nervous about how much he’s staked on the outcome.

Channel Nine’s coverage of the decider began today with league legend Brad Fittler revealing that he found the missing ball that Johnathan Thurston (pictured below) used to kick the winning field goal in the 2015 decider.

The Steeden disappeared shortly after JT inserted it into the post to give fans one of the most dramatic finishes to a grand final.

“There was an NRL guy, Nathan McGuirk, who thought, ‘You know what? “I better find that ball because it’s going to be important in the future,” Fittler said.

“So he walked up behind the goal post and the stage was still there from the show that year.

“He was sniffing underneath and there was the ball.”

Thank you for joining us for Daily Mail Australia’s coverage of the 2024 NRL Grand Final, as Penrith attempt to become the first team since the legendary St George’s team of the 1950s and 1960s to win four premierships in a row.

With two high-quality openings and top-notch pre-game entertainment, it promises to be a great day of football highlighted by the two best teams in the world facing off in a clash that is so evenly matched on paper, even

Bookmakers have a hard time predicting a winner.