When Roosters five-eighth James Maloney went to collect his premiership ring carrying daughter Layla after Sunday's NRL grand final, his young son Kade was determined not to be left out.

But as Kade attempted to follow his dad on stage carrying a football, he tripped on the edge of the platform and fell – prompting MC Ken Sutcliffe to say: "Oh, poor fella." With an average television audience of 3.3 million watching around Australia, video footage of the incident has gone viral.

Maloney, who was carrying daughter Layla, had his back to the incident but Roosters prop Jared Waerea-Hargreaves came to the rescue and scooped up Kade, who was otherwise unharmed and his ball before carrying him on to the stage as he received his premiership ring.

And to prove that he was all right, Kade threw the ball into Sutcliffe's back.