- Biggest game of the year finishes jam-packed schedule
- Kickoff for Penrith vs Melbourne clash is 7.30pm Sunday
The NRL’s great grand final sprint has officially been declared a false start, with the race of the game’s fastest men held off for another year.
Head office had planned to pit the NRL’s quickest alongside each other on grand final day, with potential prize money available for the winners.
But the event will now not take place, largely due to the number of players unavailable to run before Penrith’s Sunday night showdown against Melbourne.
The NRL is still hopeful the race can take place in the future on grand final day, with entrants from all 17 clubs.
A sprint between the game’s fastest men has long been floated, with CEO Andrew Abdo even going so far as to suggest a rugby league Olympics in 2021.
Manly flyer Jason Saab was among those to push to be involved, but he suffered a season-ending ankle injury.
Josh Addo-Carr would also have been a potential entry, with Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow another flyer who would have been a huge attraction.
Saab had also pushed for the race to be held on a different day, because players could be featuring in the main game and others away on holidays at season’s end.
One of the attractions footy fans were looking forward to ahead of the clash between Jarome Luai’s Penrith side and the Storm has been dropped for this year’s decider
Melbourne’s Ryan Papenhuyzen would have been an ideal choice to contest the grand final sprint if he wasn’t lining up for the last NRL game of the year
Pictured: Skippers Nathan Cleary and Harry Grant pose with the premiership trophy
‘The way they’re going about it seems pretty flawed, to be honest,’ Saab said in August.
‘I just think it’s interesting to do it on grand final day because I’m sure there’s bound to be a couple of (fast) players that are going to be playing.
‘How do you crown the fastest person when the fastest people aren’t running in it?’
Other lightning-quick footy stars who would’ve been a chance of competing in the event include Roosters winger Dominic Young, Tom Trbojevic and Tolutau Koula of Manly.
The AFL grand final sprint has been a common feature of the game for years, being reintroduced in 2002 after dropping off the program from 1988 to 2001.
Each AFL club usually provides one entrant for the race, which used a handicapping system from 2006 to 2008.
Collingwood’s Beau McCreery won this year’s event in a tight finish, with Geelong’s Max Holmes taking it out in 2023.
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