The Aporia · Tones and I offered NRL grand final show only three weeks ago

Tones and I offered NRL grand final show only three weeks ago

Read the original at The Sydney Morning Herald ↗

Cite

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Barrett, C. (2026, September 22). Tones and I offered NRL grand final show only three weeks ago. The Sydney Morning Herald. https://www.smh.com.au/sport/nrl/tones-and-i-offered-nrl-grand-final-show-only-three-weeks-ago-20260923-p60zot.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_feed

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Quick Summary

Tones and I was offered the opportunity to perform at the NRL grand final three weeks ago, which she declined due to prior commitments in the United States. The NRL decided not to secure another performer for the October 4 event and will instead donate $1 million to junior rugby league programs. This decision comes after discussions about what songs Tones and I would play did not reach an agreement, highlighting questions about why negotiations were left until so close to the event date compared to other sporting events like the AFL which secured a performer five months in advance.

Written by AI on 2026-09-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

The NRL grand final scheduled for October 4 at Accor Stadium will not feature headline pre-game entertainment after negotiations with Australian artist Tones and I broke down due to her prior commitments in America with Macklemore. The NRL had offered the performance role only three weeks before, on September 5th, but no deal was signed or confirmed in writing. This development left broadcaster Nine furious as pre-show entertainment is seen as crucial for drawing casual viewers to the event. In response, the NRL announced it would donate $1 million to junior rugby league instead of paying a major artist, reflecting ARLC chairman Peter V'landys's belief that investing in grassroots sports is more valuable than costly pre-game acts.

Written for “Tones And I NRL Grand Final Snub” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 7% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.

Fallout with star leaves NRL with no pre-game entertainment for grand final Same event

The Sydney Morning Herald

Hedges 2 of 36 claims Outlet record 61/100

Dance Monkey v the NRL: did Tones and I really turn down $90,000 a minute because she hates her own song? Same event

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Hedges 4 of 31 claims Outlet record 66/100

Tones And I reveals why she turned down NRL grand final Different event

ABC News (AU)

Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 68/100

“The articles discuss different points in time regarding Tones and I's decision to turn down the NRL grand final show, with one focusing on her current reasoning and the other on the recent offer she declined.”

How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted

sentences that state something as happening or true

Uncertain

1 of 14 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")

Leaning

not political

takes no side on a contested political question

Publisher signals

61/100

The Sydney Morning Herald's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.

Outlets on this story

Sports

Same framing elsewhere

articles that frame the event the way this one does

Analyzed 2026-09-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability

Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

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Running correction rate · 15 correction(s)

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Who wrote this

Chris Barrett

20 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction

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🔮 His itinerary was expected to include Hong Kong as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen in mainland China.

2026-10-28 · mixed framing · V’landys sets off on secret trip to Hong Kong, China for ‘NRL Land’

🔮 If the salary cap increased by 25 per cent – which is what most clubs are budgeting for – that would have taken Walker’s wage to $1.5 million.

2026-10-28 · mixed framing · Walker intends to play with Roosters next year despite contract spat

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🔮 But Luai’s new club teammate and national captain Junior Paulo has welcomed the five-eighth with open arms to Parramatta, where he will spend next season before heading to Port Moresby.

2026-10-11 · assertive framing · ‘Misunderstood’ Luai leads Samoan infusion at Parramatta

🔮 Peter V’landys has played down suggestions of more trouble at the controversy-plagued Perth Bears involving head coach Mal Meninga and his assistant Ben Gardiner, saying he is confident they will work well together when the expansion team begins their inaugural pre-season next month.

2026-10-10 · assertive framing · V’landys throws weight behind Bears coach Meninga after CEO’s sudden exit

🔮 But with the Roosters having sealed a maiden NRL title with last Sunday’s one-point win over Newcastle in the grand final, Walker’s management will resume talks with the club while he competes for a World Cup crown with Kevin Walters’ Kangaroos.

2026-10-10 · assertive framing · ‘Fingers crossed’: Walker hopes to secure new Roosters deal before November 1

🔮 New Zealand Rugby has launched legal action against the NRL which could force the Australian government-backed expansion side the PNG Chiefs to be renamed.

2026-10-08 · assertive framing · NZ Rugby launches court action against NRL to have PNG Chiefs name changed

🔮 I wasn’t to know that by the next leg of the tour in Cape Town, the vision would be rendered a footnote to one of cricket’s most infamous episodes.

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🔮 When Cameron Bancroft made the seismic decision on March 24, 2018, to take a small sheet of sandpaper out of his pocket and attempt to scuff up the ball, he should have known he would never get away with it.

2026-10-02 · assertive framing · ‘Just be careful, they’re on you’: Inside cricket’s greatest scandal

Also by Chris Barrett

Peter V’landys hires NSW, Kangaroos great to drive NRL’s future

2026-11-02 · The Sydney Morning Herald

V’landys sets off on secret trip to Hong Kong, China for ‘NRL Land’

2026-10-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Walker intends to play with Roosters next year despite contract spat

2026-10-28 · The Sydney Morning Herald

New twist could revive PNG Chiefs’ pursuit of Hudson Young

2026-10-17 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

All 20 articles by Chris Barrett →

Topics

ARIA Australian NRL Tones the United States

Subjects

Tones PERSON · 9× NRL ORG · 8× Australian NORP · 2× AFL ORG · 1× ARIA ORG · 1× America GPE · 1× Australian Rugby League Commission ORG · 1× Kylie Minogue PERSON · 1× Macklemore PERSON · 1× the United States GPE · 1×

Narrative

But after talks with Tones and I proved unsuccessful, the NRL opted not to scramble together a back-up option and has said it will instead donate $1 million to junior rugby league. Australian Rugby League Commission chairman Peter V’landys said he had been considering scrapping costly pre-game entertainment before negotiations with Tones and I collapsed and believes the money is better spent on the grassroots game. He argues the game itself is the entertainment but the absence of an audience-drawing pre-game act threatens to take the gloss off Sunday week’s grand final as an event.

framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-23

🔮 This masthead revealed on Tuesday that the grand final will go ahead on October 4 without a headline pre-game entertainment act after the NRL was unable to come to a last-minute deal with the ARIA award winner.

2026-09-23 · The Sydney Morning Herald

Tones and I offered NRL grand final show only three weeks ago · assertive framing

Claims (14 extracted, 1 hedged)

Australian artist Tones and I was offered the NRL grand final gig on the eve of the finals series and turned it down because of prior commitments in the United States, according to her management. uncertain

Tones → offer → management

This masthead revealed on Tuesday that the grand final will go ahead on October 4 without a headline pre-game entertainment act after the NRL was unable to come to a last-minute deal with the ARIA award winner. asserted

NRL → reveal → winner

On Wednesday, the star’s management revealed she had been approached with an offer by the NRL less than three weeks ago. asserted

she → reveal → NRL

“Tones was recently approached to perform the pre-show at the NRL grand final. asserted

Tones → approach → final

An offer was presented to Tones via management on September 5th,” her management told this masthead. asserted

management → present → masthead

“Tones had a prior commitment with Macklemore in America and explored all avenues to make it work. asserted

it → have → avenues

Nothing was signed or confirmed in writing. asserted

Nothing → sign → writing

“Due to the last-minute nature and prior commitments by Tones, we were unable to accept the offer. asserted

we → accept → offer

We wish the NRL nothing but the very best for their event.” asserted

We → wish → event

Sources closely linked to the matter but not authorised to comment publicly say the parties had also been unable to come to an agreement over what songs Tones and I would perform at Accor Stadium and that she had not committed to playing her global smash hit Dance Monkey. asserted

she → link → hit

However, the timing of the approach to Tones and I has raised questions about why the NRL left it so late to try and lock in a big-name artist for the grand final. asserted

NRL → raise → final

By contrast, the AFL secured Kylie Minogue for its grand final five months ago. asserted

AFL → secure → final

One of the biggest events on the sporting calendar, the NRL decider has traditionally booked top Australian and international acts for its pre-game show. asserted

decider → book → show

absence → prove → event