Locked-out fans turn to desperate measures after grand final bungle
Thousands of fans have been left scrambling to get tickets to Sunday’s NRL grand final after mass confusion with the process on Monday.
Knights and Roosters supporters got in line on the Ticketmaster website, hoping to snare a seat at the game’s biggest event of the year.
Knights fans celebrate. Getty Images
Newcastle was a shock inclusion in the game after the Knights stunned Penrith on Sunday, beating the Panthers 22-14 despite having Phoenix Crossland sent off in the first half, playing most of the game with just 12 men.
It means they have gone from wooden spooners to a grand final in the space of one season.
Their stunning rise means fans were not fully prepared for Newcastle to play in the big dance this year.
Fans of other teams, like the Warriors, Dolphins, and Panthers, had pre-purchased tickets to the grand final in the hope they could go and watch their side play.
On Monday, Knights and Roosters members were meant to get pre-sale access, which opened at 10am.
But fans say when they jumped online, they found thousands already ahead of them in the queue.
The tickets to Accor Stadium, which seats about 80,000 people, sold out within minutes, leaving thousands of people confused and angry.
Many took to the social pages of the NRL, the Knights and the Roosters, asking how tickets could sell out before general admission had even opened.
“I thought it was supposed to be members on sale today and general on sale tomorrow. Clearly that didn’t happen. Was a free for all,” one person wrote in the NRL comments section.
Ticketmaster was supposed to open general admission tickets on Tuesday, but it never got to that stage.
In a social post on Tuesday, the NRL boasted, “Ticketing allocations for the 2026 NRL and NRLW grand final have now been exhausted. The only way to secure a ticket is through the official reseller, Ticketmaster”.
When nine.com.au looked at the Ticketmaster page on Tuesday, the only resale tickets available were $350 each.
Nine.com.au has contacted both Ticketmaster and the NRL for comment.
Knights fans have started taking desperate measures in the hope of attending the team’s first NRL grand final in 25 years.
The sister of long-time Newcastle member Shane Sullivan contacted nine.com.au on Tuesday pleading for help to find tickets.
“He has been a Knights supporter for over 22 years, he has even gotten his kids to be supporters,” Kirstie Sullivan wrote in an email.
“He has waited for this moment ever since he had a ‘Knights Fan, Do Not Enter’ on his childhood bedroom door when he was 14.
Shane Sullivan supporting the Knights in Vegas. Supplied
“He even flew to Vegas by himself this year... and proudly wore his Knights jersey everywhere.”
Newcastle has one of the most passionate fan bases in the NRL, with supporters lining the streets of the Hunter city to welcome players back following Sunday’s stunning victory.
Knights fans made up the vast majority of the 57,000-strong crowd in Sydney for that game and would be expected to pack Accor again if they can get tickets to the grand final.
