NRL grand final LIVE: All the latest updates and scores as Penrith take on the Brisbane Broncos

Jessika Elliston just went from a standing start after collecting a poor pass that went to the ground and smashed through the Knights line to finish just short of the line. The Titans make easy meters in each set and then tackle Newcastle hard with bodies in every tackle. This is the type of play that will weaken the opponent later in the match due to the heat. Some very bad signs for the Novocastrians here.

It’s early days yet, but Newcastle need to go into this game with some urgency. They already have a lead of almost 150 metres, but the real concern for them is the ten tackle breaks the Titans have managed.

The Glitter Strip girls get the reward for all the pressure they’ve built up when Lauren Brown upsets Jaime Chapman. There she was just too big, strong and committed when she crashed after running a line back to the inside of the Knights defense.

The Knights full-back has just got her team out of trouble with an excellent effort to clear the ball out of the goal area under extreme pressure. She executed a challenging attack kick with ease and showed no regard for her safety.

However, her Knights are back on the back foot two sets later and are defeated in the possession battle, with the Titans possessing 70 percent of the ball.

The Knights and Titans will brave the peak of the heat today, but there are no plans at the moment to split their match into four, and humidity is key.

The NRL has a heat stress index that measures temperature, wind and humidity – and the lack of the latter factor, combined with strong winds at Accor Stadium in Homebush, takes the edge off the conditions enough to rule out those extra breaks.

However, should the index change, the NRL has a range of options to help protect players. It is expected that temperatures should have dropped to around 30 degrees by the time the Panthers and Broncos kick off at 7:30 p.m.

Fans may have noticed skipper Adam Reynolds and the rest of the team wearing T-shirts with ‘Toni & Kaia’ on the back during the captain’s run yesterday.

They show their support for Brisbane NRLW stars Toni Hunt and Kaia Gould, the daughter of the team’s hooker Lavinia.

Hunt was diagnosed with stage four cancer last March and seemed to have beaten the deadly disease until she recently received a devastating diagnosis.

Kaia was put into a medically induced coma in September due to blood clot complications after undergoing life-saving open heart surgery.

Hunt underwent twelve weeks of chemotherapy for cholangiocarcinoma, or bile duct cancer, a very rare disease that often has no symptoms.

She had her gallbladder, half her liver and two lymph nodes removed to beat the disease – and was given the all-clear to come back and play football afterwards.

The Newcastle Knights are looking to make it two in a row after last year’s 32-12 win over Parramatta – and according to skipper Hannah Southwell, the key to making the decision was an honesty session after their shock loss to the Cowboys in round two.

“We had a great honesty session,” Southwell said.

‘We weren’t really playing the way we wanted to, so we sat everyone at the table and asked if everyone agreed with what we’re doing here.

“All the girls said yes, so I think we carried that with us from that day on.”

Coach Ron Griffiths admitted the reigning premiers had been complacent early in the season.

“We talked after the Cowboys game and we thought we didn’t do a good job,” he said.

The Bunnies defeated the Brisbane Tigers 42-22, with a converted try right at the death saving the Queenslanders from a more embarrassing scoreline.

Souths recorded eight tries, with standout Tyrone Munro – who broke through into the first division this season – crediting three of them, with Tom Carr chipping in with two meat pies and Ethan O’Neill, Dion Teaupa and Tallis Duncan also crossing the line.

Some more cynical fans used to say that the state championship was won by the team that partied the least after winning the grand final, but that’s not true this time. The Tigers had an extra week to get that out of their system after beating Burleigh on September 17, while the Rabbitohs triumphed over Norths last Sunday.

Can Penrith become the first team to win three consecutive premierships since the great Parramatta sides of the early 1980s, or will the Broncos lift the trophy for the first time since 2006? We’re just hours away from discovering it on a sweltering day in Sydney.

Daily Mail Australia will be providing all the action and reaction as the biggest game of the year gets underway – and with both teams in excellent form, it’s shaping up to be a gripping contest.