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. 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 ==