Peter V’landys teases pre-game ‘surprise’ for NRL grand final but says singers ‘should pay us’ to perform

Peter V’landys has teased a pre-game “surprise” for the NRL grand final after failing to lock down Australian singer Tones and I as the headline act.

The incoming executive chairman broke the news that talks between the two parties had soured before the singer’s management said they had only been approached on September 5 — less than a month out from the Sydney decider — and negotiations never went far.

V’landys had already declared he would prefer to donate $1 million to junior rugby league programs than pay for “11 minutes of entertainment”.

He has now doubled down on that cause while also conceding they are “looking at some of the options” for the pre-game show.

Shannon Noll, who performed at the 2007 grand final, quickly put his hand up to fill the slot .

“We might have a surprise for that 11 minutes,” V’landys told 7NEWS on Thursday, without specifying Noll would be involved.

“And, you know, the beauty about this is it’s received more publicity in AFL grand final week than the AFL grand final. That’s the irony of it.”

V’landys also claimed singers and bands should be paying the NRL to perform rather than the other way round.

“That’s what you’d want, because your Spotify sales would go up dramatically.

“Look, we might start a trend where the performers should be paying us rather than us paying the performers.”

The NRL brought over American singer Teddy Swims for the 2025 grand final, breaking a streak of five Australian acts.

The $1 million saved this year would be put in a fund where parents of junior rugby league players can apply for support, V’landys said.

“For the last two or three years, I’ve always questioned the amount of money we spend on 11 minutes of entertainment and can it be better utilised,” he said.

“When the talks broke down in relation to the grand final entertainment this year, it gave us the opportunity for the first time to look at what we’ve been contemplating.