Canterbury are set to be hit with a fine of up to $50,000 for their late arrival at Sunday’s NRL grand final against South Sydney.

In a classic Des Hasler ‘mind games’ tactic, the Bulldogs coach held his players back five minutes from running out onto the ANZ Stadium turf, with the match kicking off well after its scheduled 7.22pm start.

The Bulldogs players could be seen on the stadium big screen still preparing in their changeroom, minutes after the Rabbitohs had taken the field.

So protracted was the wait that Souths began another warm-up, running through a number of ball handling drills as they waited for Canterbury.

An NRL spokesman told AAP on Tuesday that the game’s governing body had requested information from Canterbury as to the reasons behind their tardy arrival onto the ground.

He said the matter, including any possible fine would likely be resolved by Thursday.

The tactic didn’t upset the Rabbitohs though, who opened the scoring in the 20th minute and completed 21/22 first half sets before racing away to a 30-6 win to claim their first premiership since 1971.