2025 NRL Grand Final

2025 season The 2025 NRL season was the 118th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 28th season run by the National Rugby League. The season consisted of 27 competition rounds, followed by a finals series contested by the top eight teams on the competition ladder. Brisbane and Melbourne had both been runners-up in the previous two premiership deciders — 2023 and 2024 — losing on each occasion to the Penrith Panthers. Both teams faced each other twice during the regular season: Melbourne won 22–2 at AAMI Park in Round 23, while Brisbane won 30–14 at Suncorp Stadium in Round 27. Melbourne were aiming for their fifth premiership, having most recently won in 2020. Brisbane were aiming for their seventh, including their 1997 Super League title, having last won in 2006 — also against Melbourne — by 15–8. This was the second grand final meeting between the two clubs and the fourth time in NRL history that no club from Sydney or New South Wales featured in the decider, after 2006, 2015 and 2017. Melbourne Storm halfback and 2024 Dally M Medallist, Jahrome Hughes (pictured in 2024), returned to the club this season, missing most of the final third of the season due to sustaining a shoulder dislocation and a broken arm in separate matches. Regular season After finishing as runners-up in the 2024 NRL season, Melbourne was determined to ensure more power in their team. In the off-season, Melbourne recruited Stefano Utoikamanu from the West Tigers after four seasons with the club, which turned into one of the 'buys of the season'. Melbourne captain, Harry Grant, was excited to play alongside him, revealing later in the season how excited he was to include "firepower" in the team after reaching a grand final. The start of the season was already affected by a significant head injury to wing, Will Warbrick, who suffered from severe concussion symptoms after a hit to the head in their match against the St. George Illawarra Dragons in round four, sitting out on doctor's orders until round 25 due to the symptoms persisting and affecting his movement. By halfway through the season, Melbourne sat in fourth with a 7-4 win-loss record, unable to win two consecutive games in six weeks. Their lack of consistency and composure led to making uncharacteristic mistakes, and they were not able to win close games. Fullback, Ryan Papenhuyzen, developed issues with his calf and was later sidelined due to concussion symptoms. Nelson Asofa-Solomona missed two games due to suspension. In addition, in a personal circumstance outside of their control, the victory against the Roosters saw five-eighth Cameron Munster miss the same match due to the sudden death of his father in the days before Game 3 of State of Origin. The next week saw the club achieve a golden point victory over the Penrith Panthers, the four-time defending premiers, with Grant performing a dummy pass to break Penrith's defensive line and win 22-18. Another tight 20-14 victory against third place, the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, saw a concussion to Tui Kamikamica as well as their captain, Grant, sent to the sin bin and suspended. With two close wins in a row on their side, round 26 saw Melbourne have their worst second half performance in the club's history, when after finishing the first half with a 10-0 lead over the Roosters, they conceded 40 points in the second half, to finish the game in a 40-10 loss. This result guaranteeing Canberra would finish as the minor premiers and Melbourne would most likely finish in second. Hughes made his return to the side after his shoulder dislocation injury, only to reinjure himself, this time with a broken arm when making a tackle in the 25th minute. In addition, Asofa-Solomona was placed in the sin bin due to a shoulder charge. The team's loss and performance, particularly during the loss to Brisbane, drew ire from Bellamy, who criticised the team's attitude, inconsistency in defence, their discipline leading to unnecessary penalties and questioned whether they were ready for a finals campaign. The match ended with a 26-14 win to Melbourne with tries from Eliesa Katoa, Ativalu Lisati, Tyran Wishart and Will Warbrick, in addition to a brief injury scare to Munster and were still missing Hughes. In the preliminary final versus the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Papenhuyzen and Hughes returned, despite Hughes broken-arm not being fully healed. With the 22-14 win, the victory assured Melbourne a grand final place for the second consecutive year, with their performance as a team clicking into place, their defence proving as their biggest strength and the return of their spine combination of Papenhuyzen, Munster and Hughes making a difference. This led to the Brisbane board members firing coach Kevin Walters, who took the team to the 2023 final, and hired then-NSW State of Origin coach, Michael Maguire. Brisbane announced at the start of the pre-season that 2015 finalist, Ben Hunt would return to the team for the first time since 2017, which surprised the NRL community due to Hunt's history with the club, which was connected to their 2015 grand final loss to the North Queensland Cowboys. Round 23 saw the first of three showdowns against Melbourne, saw Brisbane's struggles going from bad to worse, with Reynolds, Mam and Selwyn Cobbo all sustaining injuries, leaving Brisbane with only 14 players by the end of the match, as Melbourne held the team try-less for the first time since 2021. This combination would continue to deliver great results for Brisbane into the final quarter of the season, developing into a force and were suddenly in contention for a top four position at the end of the season. Reece Walsh's 'toilet-water' video incident In the lead-up to the final game of the season against Melbourne, Reece Walsh was embroiled in a social media controversy, videoing himself drinking toilet water to aid recovery from training and posting it on his Snapchat account two days after winning against the Cowboys. Brisbane released a statement in response to the media storm that the video caused, stating it was nothing more than a prank, the toilet in question was newly installed inside Walsh's home, and advised the public to not follow Walsh's advice. Meanwhile, former Brisbane captain Corey Parker defended Walsh in the media and criticised Brisbane and Walsh being forced to issue an apology, stating, "It blows my mind (and) he’s living rent free in people’s heads." Walsh changed his Instagram profile picture to himself dressed as a plumber during the week, as a response to the overwhelming attention the video was receiving. Michael Maguire acknowledged the situation regarding Walsh was "unusual" and recognised the differences in maintaining an appropriate public persona during the social-media era of the sport, stating, "players of his calibre know how great an influence they can be, and sometimes it can reflect the wrong thing". In the qualifying final, Brisbane faced the first-seeded team, the Canberra Raiders, at GIO Stadium. The game saw Walsh sin-binned after headbutting another player as Canberra raced ahead early in the match, leaving Brisbane with an uphill battle to come back and win. Sixteen points down with 15 minutes left in the game, looking like a loss was guaranteed, Carrigan also in the sin bin due to a high tackle and Walsh re-entering the match, the momentum began to shift in Brisbane's favour. Walsh scored a try to shrink the lead to 28-16 in Canberra's favour, only for Brisbane's momentum to continue with tries to Josiah Karapani and Shibasaki, and a successful penalty goal kicked by Walsh to finish the match 28-all, sending the game to extra time. Maguire was proud of his team, stating in his post-match press conference, "They believed to the end. They worked hard for each other. To see them fight the way they did, it's what we talk about." In the preliminary final, Brisbane faced the four-time reigning premiers, Penrith—the team that they lost to in the 2023 final, in a sold-out game in Brisbane. Brisbane did not lead at any stage of the match until the 78th minute when Reynolds converted a try scored by Mariner to lead 16-14, and would hold the lead until full-time. 's Ben Hunt (pictured playing for Australia) would make his second grand final appearance, ten years after appearing in Brisbane's loss to the North Queensland Cowboys. One of the most significant storylines in the lead-up to the final was surrounding Brisbane's Hunt. Hunt, famously, during Brisbane's 2015 final against the North Queensland Cowboys, dropped the ball on the kick-off at the start of golden point, which led to Johnathan Thurston kicking a field goal to secure the Cowboys' first premiership. One of the key reasons for Hunt's return to Brisbane was to complete unfinished business and win a premiership specifically for Brisbane. When asked about Utoikamanu's comments, Brisbane's prop, Payne Haas, took a different approach, not wanting to add fuel to the fire, saying they would "focus on ourselves" and "worry about our own preparation". In addition, Melbourne had won seventeen of the past nineteen games against Brisbane, with their only two losses occurring during the 2023 qualifying final and round 27 earlier in the year. A notable talking point, was the NRL's decision to place Melbourne's preliminary final on Friday and Brisbane's on a Sunday to avoid a clash with the AFL final that occurred between the Brisbane Lions and Geelong Cats on Saturday. The main criticism stemming from Melbourne being given an extra two days of rest and preparation, citing it as an unfair advantage. ==Pre-match==

Broadcasting Television The match was broadcast live across Australia on the Nine Network and simulcast on Nine's streaming service, 9Now. Coverage began 10am, with a special edition of Wide World of Sports, with Cameron Smith and James Tedesco added as guest panellists. They were however, allowed to conduct their own coverage of the pre-match, as well as the NRLW and State Championship finals. Radio ABC, Triple M (Brisbane and Sydney only), SEN, 2GB, 4BC and NRL Nation broadcast the final, live on radio. Triple M announced that their commentary team would be led by Dan Ginnane, alongside Gorden Tallis, James Graham and Ben Dobbin. SEN's national feed would be provided by Joel Caine, Brett Kimmorley and Scott Sattler. Entertainment American singer, Teddy Swims headlined the pre-game entertainment. Swims performed his songs "Bad Dreams", "The Door", a cover of AC/DC's "T.N.T." and closing with "Lose Control". Swims, who had an illness in the week leading up to the performance, was forced to pull out of shows of his tour in the lead up, confirmed doctors had approved him to perform before the final took place. ==Teams==

Melbourne returned to the grand final with 15 members of their starting 17 having played in the previous season's decider. For the second successive season, Nelson Asofa-Solomona would miss the match after he was suspended for three matches on a grade two careless high tackle charge by the NRL Judiciary following the round 27 match between the two grand finalists. Melbourne halfback Jahrome Hughes, went into the match still nursing a broken arm, with the injury ironically occurring during their round 27 match against Brisbane, only receiving clearance to return for their preliminary final the previous week. Fullback, Ryan Papenhuyzen was also still nursing concussion symptoms from games earlier in the season. Brisbane's injury list was proving a concern in the lead-up to the final, with Adam Reynolds' fitness in particular causing concern. Brisbane would also see lock and vice-captain, Patrick Carrigan return from a one-match suspension, with Ben Talty omitted from the Brisbane team. ==Match summary==

Scoreboard First half Kickoff—20th minute , Sydney The match kicked off at 7:30 pm AEDT before a crowd of 80,223. Brisbane were the first team to receive the ball in the match with Corey Jensen taking the first tackle, only for Brisbane to receive a penalty three tackles later with Melbourne's Harry Grant committing a tackle infringement on Payne Haas. After this penalty, Brisbane scored their first try inside two minutes when Reece Walsh offloaded a pass on the right for winger, Deine Mariner, who nearly stepped out of bounds to ensure that Adam Reynolds had an easier conversion kick. Melbourne's attack continued to place pressure on Brisbane, with a try to Will Warbrick in the 23rd minute due to a pass from Eliesa Katoa that allowed Warbrick to beat three defenders to the try line. Brisbane began to establish some momentum, with a 40/20 attempt by Hunt, only to narrowly miss, with Melbourne able to get to the ball in time. Mam then managed to force a goal line dropout after a perfect kick that landed in the scoring area forcing Melbourne to scramble and stop the scoring attempt. Walsh's quick-thinking to avoid further injury for Hunt was praised by media, medical staff and fans. == Post-match ==

(pictured playing for Australia) was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal, with his match considered as one of the best grand final performances in NRL history. Brisbane's reactions Reece Walsh was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for player of the match for a performance that featured a try, three try assists, 176 running metres, 14 tackle breaks and several defensive plays, including a try-saving tackle on Ryan Papenhuyzen with only one minute left. His performance during the grand final was praised by many pundits and former players, including Johnathan Thurston, Andrew Johns, Adrian Morley and Phil Gould, who named it as one of the best in NRL Grand Final history. His post-match speech alluded to the controversy from the 'toilet-water incident' before their previous game against Melbourne, signing off his speech with "plumber out" and similarly gesturing his hand to the original video. Walsh and Michael Maguire were spotted drinking from toilet-shaped cups during Brisbane's victory celebrations, while Walsh was also given a life-sized toilet from a fan in the crowd and carried it around the field. When asked in the post-match press conference what helped turn his form around towards the end of the season, Walsh replied, "drinking out of a toilet". Notably, since the toilet-water video was posted, Brisbane went undefeated, Walsh's match performances were among the best of his career to date, and his good humour surrounding the incident subsequently praised as he became linked to sponsorship opportunities and turned the incident into an amusingly upbeat memorable moment, with comparisons to former Australian cricketer Shane Warne. Walsh also aimed at Stefano Utoikamanu's comments about Brisbane after the final on social media, chanting "Stefano's stuck, we up", alluding to Utoikamanu's comment that Brisbane's players were "stuck up". Brisbane was praised for their resilience, building on their last-minute comeback victories against Canberra and Penrith, remaining fearless when trailing by 10 points, scoring 14 unanswered points during the second half and maintaining momentum despite the losses of Reynolds, Hunt and Karapani. Brisbane's attack prowess on the wings and centres proved pivotal in the second half, with all their tries coming from one of those positions, most of whom were try assists by Walsh. After their loss to Penrith in 2023, when Penrith came back in the final minutes, Brisbane's resilience and growth became evident as the match progressed, with Maguire noting that their newfound "belief" established at the beginning of the season helped them stay calm. Despite Maguire receiving criticism at the beginning of the season for training the team too hard, Brisbane's fitness contributed to their superior attack and defence in the second half. He was named on Brisbane's extended squad, allowed to travel with the team and remain on the field if Brisbane won, so he could participate in celebrations. Walters thought he would be "a little bit more jealous", instead feeling happy he witnessed the moment from the sidelines, adding that although he would not be given a premiership ring due to NRL regulations, raising the trophy was "ten times better". Despite this, Walters said the win still felt bittersweet, due to his father, Brisbane's previous coach Kevin Walters, no longer part of the team from this season. Speaking to Brad Fittler on Nine's broadcast, saying, "I’m just on top of the world. So much hard work for so many years. I never dreamt of coming back to this club, and to get back here and get back to this club ... it’s an absolute dream come true." Both men's and women's teams celebrated together, with a victory parade at Suncorp Stadium the day after the final. Melbourne's reaction (pictured in 2023), was deemed to be the Melbourne Storm's best player in the grand final, with one try and one try assist. Melbourne's loss made them the first team to suffer back-to-back losses at a grand final since the Sydney Roosters in 2003 and 2004. Melbourne's inconsistencies from first-half to second-half, which had been an issue all season, once again occurred in the final, despite leading by ten points at half-time were admittedly error-prone throughout the second half. In addition, Brisbane's strategy of focusing on restricting Cameron Munster and Harry Grant's abilities in attack significantly contributed to Melbourne's inconsistency and errors, with both men having "quiet nights" in comparison to their form leading up to the grand final, with both of them making eight runs combined throughout the match. Former Melbourne captain, Cameron Smith, was critical of Melbourne's performance in the second half, stating on the Nine broadcast that Melbourne's inconsistent form in games throughout the year had come back to haunt them, despite a "super" and "comfortable" first half, which turned into being unable to score in the second. Despite the criticism, Grant praised Brisbane for how they "turned up and owned the moment". His try-assist pass leading to Will Warbrick's try in the 22nd minute receiving high-amounts of praise for its accuracy and speed. Viewership In Australian television ratings, the Grand Final averaged 4.55 million viewers nationally on Nine, the most viewed free-to-air program of 2025 and became the highest rating NRL Grand Final broadcast in history, reaching 6.4 million viewers throughout the broadcast. The match also became the most streamed program in Nine Network history, with 1.3 million viewers watching it on 9Now. The match was also watched by 181,000 viewers on Sky Sport in New Zealand. One of the deciding factors behind the additional viewership was the close and nail-biting match between Brisbane and Melbourne, with the victory not being decided until the final second, encouraging more viewers to stay for the entire duration. In comparison, the AFL final saw the eventual-winning team, the Brisbane Lions, likely becoming the premiers 20 minutes before the match concluded. ==Opening matches==

Two opening matches were played on the ground prior to the grand final: the NRL State Championship and NRL Women's Grand Final. Both matches were broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network. NRL State Championship NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final ==Notes==