2020 NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final

2020 (2020) NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final
Brisbane Broncos Sydney Roosters 20 10
1 2 Total BRI 12 8 20 SYD 10 0 10
Date	25 October 2020
Stadium	ANZ Stadium
Location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Karyn Murphy Medal	Amber Hall
Referee	Belinda Sharpe
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network
NRLW Grand Final ←  2019 2021  →

The 2020 NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2020 National Rugby League Women's season in Australia. It was contested between the Brisbane Broncos and the Sydney Roosters on 25 October at Accor Stadium in Sydney.

The match was followed by the National Rugby League grand final. Unlike 2019 and 2022 onwards, there was no NRL State Championship match in 2020 due to the NSW Cup competition being suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network.

Background

The 2020 NRL Women's season was the 3rd season of semi-professional women's rugby league in Australia. The season was originally planned to start in September 2020 but was postponed to October 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

All three rounds were played as the first two matches in triple-headers prior to and with an NRL (men’s) final series match. The NRL games were Canberra Raiders versus Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks at GIO Stadium on 3 October, Parramatta Eels versus South Sydney Rabbitohs on 10 October at Bankwest Stadium, and Penrith Panthers versus South Sydney Rabbitohs at ANZ Stadium on 17 October 2020. On each game day, time was allowed between the three matches for the players from the earlier game to clear the field before players from the next game took the field to warm-up. Other measures to mitigate against the potential spread of Covid-19 included the NRLW players using temporary marquee tents as change rooms in Canberra.

The Broncos and Roosters both won their first two games, defeating the other teams in the four-team competition, the Dragons and Warriors. This meant that the Grand Finalists were decided before the third and final round. The Round 3 match between the Roosters and Broncos was effectively a dress rehearsal at the same venue to be used for the Grand Final eight days later.

In their Round 3 match the Broncos opened the scoring against the Roosters in the eleventh minute with a converted try. This action was repeated three minutes later, albeit with a sideline conversion, to establish a 12–0 lead. The Roosters responded with a try on the left wing less than three minutes prior to the break to trail by eight points at half-time. The Roosters scored a converted try two minutes into the second stanza to reduce the margin to two. The response from Broncos was quick, as they scored two further converted tries in the next eight minutes, to lead 24–10 with twenty minutes to play. With eight minutes to play, Roosters five-eighth Corban McGregor intercepted a pass from Broncos five-eighth Raecene McGregor are ran 90 metres to score a converted try. No further score was registered, the Broncos winning 24–16. ^[1]

Route to the Grand Final

Team	Regular Season
	1	2	3
Brisbane Broncos	28–14	18–4	24–16
	N	N	N
Sydney Roosters	18–4	22–12	16–24
	N	N	N
Key: H = Home venue; A = Away venue; N = Neutral venue

Pre-match

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live on the Nine Network in Australia and 9Now and on Sky Sport in New Zealand. Radio broadcasters included ABC, Triple M, 2GB, 4BC and NRL Nation.

Officiating

Belinda Sharpe was appointed as the referee for the NRLW Grand Final for the first time. Jared Maxwell was appointed as the video referee in the NRL Bunker. Liam Kennedy and Drew Oultram were appointed as the touch judges.

Squads

Initial team lists of 21 players were announced on the Tuesday afternoon prior to match, 20 October 2020. ^[2]

Brisbane Broncos Pos J# Player Age Matches NRLW Representative 2020 Career State Tests FB 1 Tamika Upton 23 3 6 — — WG 2 Shenae Ciesiolka 23 2 2 — — CE 3 Julia Robinson 22 3 10 — 1 CE 4 Jayme Fressard 23 2 2 — — WG 5 Meg Ward 26 3 9 2 3 FE 6 Raecene McGregor 23 3 10 — 6 HB 13 Tarryn Aiken 21 3 7 — — PR 8 Millie Boyle 22 3 7 1 1 HK 9 Lauren Brown 25 3 3 — — PR 16 Shannon Mato 22 3 3 — — SR 11 Amber Hall 25 2 6 — 6 SR 12 Tallisha Harden 28 3 7 2 2 LK 7 Ali Brigginshaw 30 3 11 9 17 IN 14 Annette Brander 27 3 10 5 10 IN 15 Jessika Elliston 23 3 4 1 — IN 10 Chelsea Lenarduzzi 24 3 10 2 1 IN 17 Chanté Temara 19 1 1 — — CS 21 Lavinia Gould 37 2 10 — — — 18 Romy Teitzel 21 1 1 — — — 19 Tyler Birch 24 2 2 — — — 20 Zara Canfield 19 0 0 — —

Sydney Roosters Pos J# Player Age Matches NRLW Representative 2020 Career State Tests FB 19 Botille Vette-Welsh 24 1 6 1 1 WG 1 Shanice Parker 22 3 4 — — CE 3 Corban McGregor 26 3 6 5 7 CE 4 Yasmin Meakes 26 3 3 — — WG 5 Brydie Parker 21 3 5 — — FE 6 Melanie Howard 27 1 6 — — HB 7 Zahara Temara 23 3 10 2 5 PR 8 Simaima Taufa 26 2 8 6 9 HK 9 Nita Maynard 28 3 10 1 8 PR 10 Filomina Hanisi 19 3 3 — — SR 11 Vanessa Foliaki 27 3 10 6 6 SR 12 Sarah Togatuki 23 3 6 — 1 LK 13 Hannah Southwell 21 2 8 2 2 IN 14 Quincy Dodd 20 3 4 — — IN 15 Kennedy Cherrington 21 3 3 — — IN 16 Grace Hamilton 28 2 2 — — IN 17 Jocelyn Kelleher 20 3 3 — — CS 18 Amelia Mafi 25 1 1 — — — 2 Taleena Simon 27 1 5 1 — — 20 Bobbi Law 23 1 2 — — — 21 Kaitlyn Phillips 23 2 2 — —

Notes:

• The tally of matches played in the above tables are prior to the Grand Final.
• Age is as at the date of the Grand Final, 25 October 2020.
• Line-up changes from the two teams previous meeting, eight days prior, were:
  • Broncos: Jayme Fressard in for Tyler Birch at centre. Amber Hall returned from suspension for Jessika Elliston, who moved to the bench, displacing Romy Teitzel from the seventeen.
  • Roosters: Zahara Temara fullback to halfback, Corban McGregor five-eighth to centre, Melanie Howard halfback to five-eighth, and Brydie Parker centre to wing. Taleena Simon (wing) was replaced by Botille Vette-Welsh (fullback). Simaima Taufa replaced Grace Hamilton at prop, who dropped to the bench. Hannah Southwell replaced Kennedy Cherrington at lock, who dropped to the bench. Amelia Mafi and Kaitlyn Phillips dropped off the interchange bench.
• Going into the Grand Final, Meg Ward (Broncos) lead the 2020 top point scorer list with 26 points from one try and 11 goals. Zahara Temara (Roosters) was in second place with 20 points from a try, and eight goals.
  • The two goals by Meg Ward and one goal by Zahara Temara in the Grand Final Maintained their positions.
• The goal-kicking conversion rates for the 2020 season prior to the match were:
  • Meg Ward (Broncos) 91.67% having kicked 11 conversions from 12 attempts.
  • Zahara Temara (Roosters) 72.73% having kicked seven conversions and one penalty goal from eleven attempts.
• Going into the match, the Grand Final participants placed highest in the 2020 top try scorer list were Tamika Upton (Broncos) in first place with four tries. Corban Baxter (Roosters), Quincy Dodd (Roosters) and Julia Robinson were three of five players sharing third place on two tries.
  • The try by Upton in the Grand Final confirmed her first placing. The try by Quincy Dodd elevated her into equal second place alongside Evania Pelite (Warriors) on three tries.

Match summary

The Broncos won their third premiership in the third season of the competition.

2020 NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final

Sunday, 25 October 4:05pm AEDT (UTC+11)

Brisbane Broncos	20—10	Sydney Roosters
Tries:4 Tamika Upton (3') Amber Hall (8’) Chelsea Lenarduzzi (34’) Tallisha Harden {44’) Goals:2 Meg Ward 2/4 (5' 9’)	1st: 12–10 2nd: 8–0	Tries:2 Yasmin Meakes (13') Quincy Dodd (25') Goals:1 Zahara Temara 1/2 (26')

ANZ Stadium, Sydney Referee: Belinda Sharpe Video referee: Jared Maxwell Touch judges: Liam Kennedy, Drew Oultram Karyn Murphy Medal: Amber Hall Official NRL Website: Match Centre Highlights: YouTube by NRL on Nine

Post-match

From the 34 players who took the field in this Grand Final, 22 were selected for and played in the State of Origin match on 13 November 2020. With one exception each, the Broncos supplied Queensland players and the Roosters supplied New South Wales players. ^{[3] [4]} Twelve of the 22 players made their interstate debut, six from each grand finalist, and six for each state.

• Broncos
  • New South Wales: Millie Boyle
  • Queensland debutants: Tamika Upton, Shenae Ciesiolka, Julia Robinson, Lauren Brown, Tarryn Aiken, Shannon Mato
  • Queensland returnees: Tallisha Harden, Ali Brigginshaw, Annette Brander, Chelsea Lenarduzzi
• Roosters
  • Queensland: Zahara Temara
  • New South Wales debutants: Shanice Parker, Yasmin Meakes, Melanie Howard, Filomina Hanisi, Sarah Togatuki, Quincy Dodd
  • New South Wales returnees: Botille Vette-Welsh, Corban McGregor, Simaima Taufa, Hannah Southwell

Players to have changed their name since this Grand Final include:

• Millie Boyle to Millie Elliott
• Corban McGregor to Corban Baxter
• Yasmin Meakes to Yasmin Clydsdale
• Nita Maynard to Nita Maynard-Perrin
• Amelia Mafi to Amelia Huakau

References

1. "NRLW Highlights: Roosters v Broncos - Round 3 - NRL on Nine". YouTube. NRL on Nine. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 11 October 2025.
2. Sims, Ruan (24 October 2020). "Why the Broncos' NRLW dynasty is about to end". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 53.
3. "Temara Named In Queensland Squad". Roosters.com.au. 28 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2025.
4. "NSW Women's Origin team announced". NSWRL. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2025.

External links

• Match Centre on NRL website