The last tickets for Sunday’s NRL Grand Final have been snapped up and the teams were on the move today, heading for the Sydney showdown.

Both the Warriors and Manly have held final training sessions in the lead up to the match.

Lauren Marer reports.

TRANSCRIPT

The New Zealand Warriors are on their way to Sydney for their second appearance in an NRL Grand Final

Before they flew out, they held an open training session in Auckland to give their fans a chance to cheer them on.

The Manly Sea Eagles made the most of their home turf with a training session at Narrabeen.

It’s the last time Manly winger Will Hopoate will pull on the maroon jumper for a while, after the final he’s headed for a two-year break from the game to work as a Mormon missionary.

But that’s not the challenge on his mind at the moment.

Will Hopoate, Manly Winger: “I think I’ll be marking the beast. It’s a very big task, as he is himself, so hopefully he doesn’t take me to school.”

Finals fever has also hit the AFL, with thousands of Collingwood fans gathering to watch the second-last training session before Saturday’s Grand Final.

All eyes were on injured players Darren Jolly and Ben Reid, who both need to pass fitness checks before the finals clash with Geelong.

And in the Rugby World Cup, the Wallabies are in the depths of an injury crisis as they prepare for their final pool match against Russia.

Coach Robbie Deans was forced to bring in strike forward, Radike Samo, on the wing.

The 117kg Samo is an unsual choice, but the Wallabies ran out of options after Wycliff Palu, was flown home yesterday with a hamstring injury.

And finally Samantha Stosur has been knocked out of the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo.

It was Stosur’s first match since winning the US Open earlier this month.

She lost in three sets to Russian Maria Kirilenko.

Lauren Marer, QUT News.