Jimmy Barnes Is Waiting For The NRL to Call With a Grand Final Offer

Jimmy Barnes is ready and willing to play ball with the National Rugby League. 

The two-time ARIA Hall of Fame inducted rock legend has one eye on the NRL Grand Final, which would provide an appropriately massive stage to celebrate the 40 year milestone of Working Class Man.

Speaking Wednesday morning on Triple M Breakfast with Beau, Cat & Woodsy, Barnes said he’d “keep the date free” on Sunday, October 5th, when the two best teams in tackle it out at Sydney’s Accor Stadium for club rugby league’s showpiece event.  

While the AFL finds itself criticised for tapping Snoop Dogg as the pre-match entertainer for its final at the MCG, no one would dare complain about Barnes lighting it up for the NRL’s biggest game of the year.

Barnes has a decades-long connection with league. He and the late Tina Turner recorded “(Simply) The Best” as a duet to promote the 1992 season for what was then known as the New South Wales Rugby League (NSWRL). Barnes has performed at several NRL Grand Finals, including the 2022, 2001, and 1997 clincher, when he performed “(Simply) The Best”. Jimmy re-recorded the number in 2001 with his daughter Mahalia for an NRL promotional campaign. And for the record, Jimmy wears a league jersey in Chisel’s 1981 music video for “You Got Nothing I Want.”

The much-loved artist has put a string of health setbacks behind him, and is in a defiant mood. The Glasgow-born singer performed at the 2025 Logie Awards, and at Support Act’s 2025 Music In The House, celebrating the career of Troy Cassar-Daley. 

Just last week, Barnes walked the red carpet at the Melbourne International Film Festival for the premiere of his Working Class Man documentary, directed by Andrew Farrell and the followup to 2018’s Working Class Boy.

Barnes will celebrate the 40th anniversary of his debut solo album with the Working Class Man 40th Anniversary Tour, presented by MG Live and Face to Face Touring and kicking off late November.