Why Ray Warren gave St George pride of place when he designed NRL premiership rings Panthers Eels

Why legendary caller Ray Warren gave St George pride of place when he designed the $10,000 rings for this year’s NRL grand final winners

  • Legendary commentator Ray Warren designed the 2022 premiership rings
  • Warren has insisted that St George be be represented prominently on the rings
  • Warren wanted to pay tribute to St George’s 11 grand final wins in a row  
  • The rings are worth $10,000 and designed by different people each year

Highly respected broadcaster Ray Warren has officially retired from commentating, but he will still be involved on NRL grand final day after designing the rings that will presented to each player from the premiership-winning team.

And the 79-year-old has insisted that St George be represented prominently on the one-off run of jewellery. 

Every year, Sydney jeweller Affinity Diamonds creates the rings for the grand final winners, which are worth $10,000 each.

Why Ray Warren gave St George pride of place when he designed NRL premiership rings Panthers Eels

Legendary broadcaster Ray Warren has designed the NRL premiership rings for 2022 

The $10,000 rings feature the iconic image of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons embracing after the 1963 grand final

The $10,000 rings feature the iconic image of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons embracing after the 1963 grand final 

Over the years the rings have been designed by Johnathan Thurston, former NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller and an ICU nurse during the first year of the pandemic.

Warren, who retired from 55 years of commentary earlier this year, was shocked when he got the call from Affinity Diamonds founder and chief executive Sam Rahme.    

‘I told them I’m a sports commentator – I have no experience in designing rings,’ Warren told the Sydney Morning Herald. ‘But, anyway, now I have.’ 

Warren insisted that the iconic image of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons embracing after the 1963 grand final was featured on the side.

The ring is made of solid white gold encrusted with two carats of diamonds and ‘pigeon-blood red’ rubies, which signify the famous Red V of St George – the club Provan played for.

The rings are made of solid white gold encrusted with two carats of diamonds and 'pigeon-blood red' rubies. The red rubies signifies the 11 premierships in a row of the St George Dragons - and the many great players from that club who have passed away in recent times

The rings are made of solid white gold encrusted with two carats of diamonds and ‘pigeon-blood red’ rubies. The red rubies signifies the 11 premierships in a row of the St George Dragons – and the many great players from that club who have passed away in recent times

‘When I was thinking of a design I thought of Norm and Arthur and the mateship that defines rugby league,’ Warren explained.

‘Then I thought of Norm and all the great St George players from those 11 grand finals in a row [from 1956 to 1966] and those we’ve lost in recent times: Reg Gasnier, Graeme Langlands, Johnny Raper and Norm. That’s why I wanted some red in there.’

Rahme was very impressed with Warren’s eye for crafting jewellery. 

‘Each year, I pick someone who’s done something worthy in the game. Ray’s done so much, so in his retirement year we thought he’d be perfect,’ Rahme said. 

‘We asked him to come up with something big and blingy that can be worn on special occasions. He did well. It’s a nice-looking ring.’

Viliame Kikau of the Penrith Panthers inspects his 2021 NRL premiership ring

Viliame Kikau of the Penrith Panthers inspects his 2021 NRL premiership ring

Warren will be watching this year’s rugby league grand final at home with his wife after politely declining an invitation from NRL chief executive Andrew Abdo to attend the decider between Penrith and Parramatta.

Known as the ‘voice of rugby league’, Warren has called 99 State of Origin matches, 45 grand finals and three Melbourne Cups, establishing himself as one of Australia’s greatest ever broadcasters.

Warren was inducted into the NRL Hall of Fame in 2019.

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