A nudge in the direction of Melbourne replacement Ben Hampton and a wink – that is how the try that decided a premiership was engineered. Discussing the Andrew Fiffita try for which he provided an assist, Michael Ennis told the ABC: "I felt like we were going sideways. We just needed to play straight. He (Fifita) had just come back onto the field and I'd seen Hampton in the line. I just winked at him. I said 'mate, you've got to go here' and he just went. I don't know how he got it down. What a player."

It was a long way from the NRL grand final, literally and figuratively. When the United States played Canada in Wilmington, Delaware a few hours before the big one, kick-off was delayed because a council worker had failed to show up to turn the lights on. His absence also meant the US players couldn't get into their dressing room until after the game; the Canadians got changed in the parking lot. The crowd numbered less than 100 but at least the food was free. Former South Sydney player Junior Vaivai pounced on a loose ball and raced 60 metres to score the winning try with two minutes remaining, the 20-14 win giving the US a clean sweep of the Colonial Cup games.

Rugby league is fond of using superlatives like "best ever" and "worst ever" on an almost daily basis. Sunday's entertainment was nowhere near as bad as Slash playing along to a backing tape of his band a couple of years ago. It's also good to see the NRL's simpering relationship with Sony Music being loosened with acts chosen – rightly or wrongly - for reasons other than the label they are on. By all accounts the performance of Richie Sambora and Orianthi was a huge improvement on their train wreck outing in Melbourne on the current tour and Keith Urban ticks the "Australian" and "internationally famous" boxes perfectly. Things are improving.