2018 NRL Grand Final

2018 (2018) NRL Grand Final  ()
2018 NRL Grand Final logo
Sydney Roosters Melbourne Storm 21 6
1 2 Total SYD 18 3 21 MEL 0 6 6
Date	30 September 2018
Stadium	ANZ Stadium
Location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Clive Churchill Medal	Luke Keary
Australian National anthem	Samantha Jade
Referee	Gerard Sutton Ashley Klein Brett Suttor (Touch Judge) Nick Beashel (Touch Judge)
Attendance	82,688
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network (Live) Fox League (Delayed)
Commentators	Ray Warren Phil Gould Peter Sterling Andrew Johns Brad Fittler (Sideline) Darren Lockyer (Sideline)
NRL Grand Final ←  2017 2019  →

The 2018 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2018 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday September 30 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. ^[1] The match was contested between minor premiers the Sydney Roosters and defending premiers the Melbourne Storm. In front of a crowd of 82,688, Sydney won the match 21-6 to claim their 14th premiership title and their first since 2013. Roosters five-eighth Luke Keary was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as the game's official man of the match.

The match was preceded by the inaugural NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final and the 2018 NRL State Championship. Pre-match entertainment was headlined Sydney alternative rock band Gang of Youths. ^[2] Australian singer Samantha Jade performed the Australian National anthem. The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network.

Background

See also: 2018 NRL Finals Series

It was the first time the Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters contested for an NRL premiership, with both teams having made the most grand final appearances since the beginning of the NRL era in 1998. Only on six occasions since 1998 has there been a grand final that did not feature either club. Both sides have also claimed every minor premiership since 2013, with the Roosters finishing first in 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2018, and the Storm doing the same in 2016 and 2017. The Roosters qualified for their first grand final since they won the premiership in 2013. The club had reached the preliminary finals in 2014, 2015, and 2017, yet were denied a grand final berth on each occasion when they were defeated by the South Sydney Rabbitohs, Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys, respectively. The Storm qualified for their third-straight grand final, replicating the milestone they achieved in 2006, 2007 and 2008. They are the first NRL side to make three consecutive grand finals on more than one occasion. It was Trent Robinson's second grand final in his sixth year coaching the Roosters, while Craig Bellamy equalled Wayne Bennett in reaching eight grand finals as a first grade coach.

ANZ Stadium, where the match was played

Sydney and Melbourne finished first and second on the premiership ladder respectively, making up a top four in which all teams (together with the South Sydney and Cronulla-Sutherland) finished on 34 points. The sides faced each other only once during the regular season, with the Storm edging out a 9-8 victory over the Roosters at Adelaide Oval courtesy of a Cameron Smith field goal. Having a double home game advantage, both teams defeated the third-placed Rabbitohs and fourth-placed Sharks to earn a week off from the semi-finals and a place into the grand final. Sydney, playing at Allianz Stadium, defeated the Sharks 21-12 in the second qualifying final. In the preliminary final, they defeated the Rabbitohs 12-4 in front of a record crowd of 44,380 in the last ever NRL game held at Allianz Stadium before its scheduled knock-down and rebuild. Melbourne, playing at AAMI Park, narrowly defeated the Souths 29-28 in the first qualifying final, before beating their 2016 grand final opponents Cronulla-Sutherland 22-6 to join the Roosters in the premiership decider. Sydney and Melbourne last played each other in the finals in 2015, where the fourth-placed Storm defeated the minor-premiership winning Roosters 20-18 in the first week of the finals.

Teams

Sydney Roosters	Position	Melbourne Storm
James Tedesco	Fullback	Billy Slater
Daniel Tupou	Wing	Suliasi Vunivalu
Latrell Mitchell	Centre	Will Chambers
Joseph Manu	Centre	Curtis Scott
Blake Ferguson	Wing	Josh Addo-Carr
Luke Keary	Five-eighth	Cameron Munster
Cooper Cronk	Halfback	Brodie Croft
Jared Waerea-Hargreaves	Prop	Jesse Bromwich
Jake Friend (c)	Hooker	Cameron Smith (c)
Sio Siua Taukeiaho	Prop	Tim Glasby
Boyd Cordner (c)	2nd Row	Felise Kaufusi
Mitchell Aubusson	2nd Row	Joe Stimson
Victor Radley	Lock	Dale Finucane
Isaac Liu	Interchange	Kenny Bromwich
Dylan Napa	Interchange	Christian Welch
Zane Tetevano	Interchange	Brandon Smith
Ryan Matterson	Interchange	Nelson Asofa-Solomona
Trent Robinson	Coach	Craig Bellamy

The grand final would be Billy Slater's final game before his retirement after playing 319 first grade games in the NRL, becoming the 16th player to finish their career playing over 300 games at one club. However, many felt Slater was extremely lucky to be playing in the game after being charged for a shoulder charge against Cronulla player Sosaia Feki in the preliminary final the week before. The judiciary cleared Slater of any wrongdoing, presenting him with the opportunity to win a grand final in the final game of his illustrious career. Melbourne captain Cameron Smith surpassed Darren Lockyer in becoming the most capped finals player in the NRL, with 36 appearances. Brodie Croft, Joe Stimson, Christian Welch, and Brandon Smith were the only new additions to the Storm's grand final winning squad from the previous year. Roosters halfback Cooper Cronk played in his eighth grand final, after playing all seven previous grand finals for the Storm; he equalled Steve Menzies in becoming the fourth most-capped NRL player in history; he also became the first player to win back-to-back premierships with different clubs since Johnny Mayes accomplished the feat in 1973 with Manly-Warringah then 1974 with Eastern Suburbs. Daniel Tupou, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Jake Friend, Boyd Cordner, and Mitchell Aubusson were the last remaining members from their 2013 premiership winning squad, while Frank-Paul Nu'uausala wasn't selected to play. Luke Keary was the only other Roosters player to have experienced premiership success, having played for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in their victorious 2014 Grand Final.

Officials

Position				Stand-By
Referees:	Gerard Sutton	Ashley Klein		Ben Cummins
Touch Judges:	Nick Beashel	Brett Suttor		Chris Sutton
Bunker:	Steve Chiddy	Ben Galea

Match summary

Sunday, 30 September 7:35pm (AEST)

Sydney Roosters	21 – 6	Melbourne Storm
Tries: Tupou (8') 1 Mitchell (15') 1 Manu (37') 1 Goals: Mitchell 4/6 (4' pen, 16', 31' pen, 79' pen) Field Goals: Keary (69') 1	1st: 18 – 0 2nd: 3 – 6	Tries: 1 (63') Addo-Carr Goals: 1/1 (64') C Smith Sin Bin: (30', 78') Munster

ANZ Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 82,688 Referee: Gerard Sutton, Ashley Klein Clive Churchill Medal: Luke Keary

Opening games

NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final

Main article: 2018 NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final

Sunday, 30 September 1:35pm (AEST)

Brisbane Broncos Women's	34 – 12	Sydney Roosters Women's
Tries: Kimiora Nati (6', 18' pen, 46') 3 Heather Ballinger (14') 1 Ngatokotoru Arakua (25') 1 Lavinia Gould (29') 1 Goals: Chelsea Baker 5/6 (7', 16', 19', 26', 48')	1st: 28 – 6 2nd: 6 – 6	Tries: 1 (11') Tazmin Grey 1 (44') Lavina O'Mealey Goals: 2/3 Zahara Temara (5' pen, 45')

ANZ Stadium, Sydney Referee: Jon Stone, Kasey Badger Karyn Murphy Medal: Kimiora Nati

Team lists:

FB 1 Chelsea Baker WG 2 Julia Robinson CE 3 Meg Ward CE 4 Amber Pilley WG 5 Amelia Kuk FE 6 Kimiora Nati HB 7 Ali Brigginshaw (c) PR 8 Heather Ballinger HK 9 Brittany Breayley PR 15 Chelsea Lenarduzzi SR 11 Teuila Fotu-Moala SR 12 Maitua Feterika LK 13 Rona Peters Substitutes: IC 10 Steph Hancock IC 14 Lavinia Gould IC 16 Mariah Storch IC 17 Ngatokotoru Arakua Coach: Paul Dyer

FB 1 Karina Brown WG 2 Brydie Parker CE 3 Shontelle Stowers CE 4 Isabelle Kelly WG 5 Taleena Simon FE 6 Lavina O'Mealey HB 7 Zahara Temara PR 8 Ruan Sims (c) HK 9 Nita Maynard PR 10 Elianna Walton SR 11 Tazmin Grey SR 12 Vanessa Foliaki LK 13 Simaima Taufa (c) Substitutes: IC 14 Kylie Hilder IC 15 Sarah Togatuki IC 16 Victoria Latu IC 17 Kandy Kennedy Coach: Adam Hartigan

NRL State Championship

See also: 2018 NRL State Championship, 2018 New South Wales Cup, and 2018 Queensland Cup

Sunday, 30 September 3:40pm (AEST)

Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs	42 – 18	Redcliffe Dolphins
Tries: Josh Cleeland (36', 38') 2 Rhyse Martin (6') 1 Chris Smith (47') 1 Renouf To'omaga (52') 1 Jayden Okunbor (72') 1 Fa'amanu Brown (77') 1 Goals: Rhyse Martin 5/6 (8', 37', 48', 54', 58' pen) Greg Eastwood 1/1 (74') Josh Cleeland 1/1 (78')	1st: 16 – 6 2nd: 26 – 12	Tries: 2 (30', 60') Kotoni Staggs 1 (74') James Taylor Goals: 2/2 Bryce Donovan (61', 75') 1/1 Kotoni Staggs (31')

ANZ Stadium, Sydney Referee: Adam Cassidy, Liam Kennedy

Team lists:

FB 1 Mason Cerruto WG 2 Josh Bergamin CE 3 Morgan Harper CE 4 John Olive WG 5 Jayden Okunbor FE 6 Josh Cleeland HB 7 Fa'amanu Brown PR 8 Renouf To'omaga HK 9 Zac Woolford PR 10 Francis Tualau SR 11 Ofahiki Ogden SR 12 Rhyse Martin (c) LK 13 Greg Eastwood Substitutes: IC 14 Bronson Garlick IC 14 Lachlan Burr IC 16 Jack Nelson IC 17 Chris Smith Coach: Steve Georgallis

FB 1 Trai Fuller WG 2 Josh Beehag CE 3 Kotoni Staggs CE 4 Tom Opacic WG 5 Jeremy Hawkins FE 6 Bryce Donovan HB 7 Cameron Cullen (c) PR 16 Nathan Watts HK 9 Jake Turpin PR 10 Sam Anderson SR 14 Miles Taueli SR 11 Toby Rudolf LK 13 Jamil Hopoate Substitutes: IC 8 Nick Slyney IC 12 Aaron Whitchurch IC 15 James Taylor IC 17 Hugh Pratt Coach: Adam Mogg

Aftermath

As premiership winners, the Sydney Roosters qualified to play in the 2019 World Club Challenge. Against the Super League XXIII champions the Wigan Warriors, the Roosters won the match 20-8 at Wigan's DW Stadium.

See also

• NRL Premiership winners
• 2018 NRL Finals Series

References

1. "2017 Telstra Premiership draw launched". 24 November 2016. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
2. "Gang of Youths to Play NRL Grand Final". NRL.com. 7 September 2018. Retrieved 9 September 2018.