NRL officials will hold further meetings with the NSW government in an 11th-hour bid to save the game's stadium strategy and keep the grand final in Sydney.
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The ARL Commission met on Monday to discuss the venue for this year's decider with the possibility of moving the match out of NSW.
Ultimately, the commissioners decided to defer a decision until later this week, allowing for more talks between the NRL and the state government.
The first of those discussions came on Monday afternoon, after a week-long public feud between ARLC chairman Peter V'landys and NSW premier Dominic Perrottet.
Further meetings will now be held between V'landys and government officials, with the NRL desperate to finalise the matter.
There is genuine hope that a compromise could be reached that would suit both parties.
The NRL had initially signed a deal with the NSW government to keep the grand final in Sydney until 2042 with an $800 million upgrade of Accor Stadium.
That rebuild was put off in 2020 and a portion of that funding was to be redirected to suburban grounds.
Some $300 million has already been pledged to Penrith, but the NRL believed it had a handshake deal on around $250 million upgrades across other grounds before being told it was no longer a priority.
V'landys has made it clear in recent days he would still prefer to keep the grand final in Sydney, but a decision would ultimately rest with the entire commission.
"There are two reasons for that (desire)," V'landys told AAP recently.
"One: we honour our agreements. We gave our word, we have a legally binding agreement (with the NSW government).
"So in order for us to protest those rights we have to continue providing the requirements we have.
"And the second thing is: I don't want to punish the fans of NSW because of the government."
A decision will likely have to be made by the end of the week to allow tickets to go on sale for the October 2 showpiece.
Australian Associated Press
