Mathew Thompson calling tonight’s Storm v Broncos final.
Which would mean Ray Warren must be doing the Roosters v Cowboys tomorrow night.
Possibly the worst scenario Nine could’ve hoped for tonight!
Storm win, absolute belting & against Broncos.
(i.e.) turn-off in Sydney & Brisbane, whilst Melbourne watched the AFL.
It will be interesting to see the ratings for this game. Though I don’t think Sydney ratings will be affected by the result since there was no local team playing.
I think Nine may have picked up disenchanted Geelong Cats supporters in Melbourne since the Crows got away to a big lead early, which the Cats never really looked like threatening, in yet another one sided AFL finals match.
Are Fox League broadcasting the Nine commentary for finals?
No, Fox League has its own commentary and graphics for the finals. For example, Warren Smith was the main caller for Storm v Broncos last night.
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They’re not flash.
Flopped (as expected) in Melbourne, the pre-match audience is also telling!
Even though Geelong were getting beaten.
Melbourne will meet North Queensland in next Sunday’s NRL Grand Final after the Cowboys upset the Sydney Roosters tonight. This will be the first time in NRL history that the match is between 1st and 8th. The ratings in Melbourne and Brisbane will be huge which will be good news for Nine.
Last year the Western Bulldogs finished 7th on the AFL ladder and won four finals on their way to claim the premiership. Could the Cowboys follow a similar path this year? They finished 8th on the ladder as I said above, and they won three straight finals away from home to reach the decider.
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Nine would’ve loved Roosters vs Cronulla.
Ratings will probably be poor in Sydney (NRL’s home market), let alone ANZ’s crowd.
Cowboys are also really a regional QLD team, they rate much less than Broncos in Brisbane.
Seven’s bloody luck with Adelaide vs Richmond 
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Joel Caine tried to do a complete update for the Grand Final between Melbourne Storm and North QLD on Sportsbet but there was a technical glitch. As a result, James Bracey continued to wrap up things from The match.
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It’ll be very interesting to see what the ratings are like here in Sydney for a Storm vs Cowboys Grand Final.
I personally think Nine (and also the NRL) would’ve wanted the opposite outcome to what actually happened this weekend.
Of course plenty of people will still watch the match locally because it’s the Grand Final, but you’d probably have to expect around a 200k drop in the Sydney ratings on last year? People here are probably going to go for the Cowboys by default, because the Storm are probably very unpopular amongst mainstream Sydney* (especially among Manly Sea Eagles & Parramatta Eels fans).
*I say mainstream Sydney because in reality, there are some Storm fans who live in Sydney and there probably would be a few Cowboys fans who live in Sydney as well. A minority compared to the overall population, but they would still be a thing nonetheless IMO.
I think Brisbane would still watch a Storm v Cowboys Grand Final. Aside from the Cowboys still being a Queensland team, doesn’t the Melbourne Storm have a bunch of QLD Origin stars?
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UP THE COWBOYS!!!
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I’ve always wondered what Sportsbet do for NRL crosses?
Do they have a Sydney office, or a room they can key?
As they’re headquartered in Melbourne and appear heavily AFL-centric.
Nine should not be unhappy with this outcome. Sydney will watch the GF regardless and the Victorian audience should be boosted well above normal levels. Queenslanders will also tune in in big numbers especially regional viewers. Last time the Cowboys were in a final in 2015 (vs Brisbane) the regional audience saw the NRL GF rank 3rd nationally overall below two SOO games. Queenslanders consider the Storm to be a Queensland team anyway because of the large number of QLD state of Origins players in the team 
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I agree, Sydney ratings may dip slightly with no Sydney team, but will be more than compensated by increases in Victoria, and also Queensland.
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Will Sydney ratings dip under 1 million? Because I know that back in 2015, the NRL GF between Brisbane and North Queensland was just under 1 million in Sydney.
In Melbourne I would expect about 650k whereas in Brisbane, I would probably think of 700k.
With non-NRL states, I would think Adelaide of 110k and Perth as 124k.
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Sportsbet is an official partner of NRL finals and yes they have an office in Sydney.
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Why? Outside of NSW there’d be little interest in that matchup.
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Wonder who will be calling each game on Grand Final Day.
Can assume Rabs will do the Main Event.
Matt Thompson will probably do the Interstate Challenge.
Tim Gilbert???
I feel as though Tim Gilbert might have fill in to do the Holden Cup Finals, Matt Thompson to do the Interstate Challenge. I am expecting that Ray Warren will call the Melbourne Storm v North Queensland Cowboys match during the evening alongside with Gus Gould, Andrew Johns, Wally Lewis, Peter Sterling
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Forget Interstate challenge, it’s now an INTERNATIONAL challenge. PNG win in Qld 12-10 against Melbourne Under 20’s…oh sorry Sunshine Coast.
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