2025 NRL: Grand Final Recap

Check out what happened in the National Rugby League Grand Final.

Review

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Brisbane produced another comeback win in the NRL Grand Final at Accor Stadium. With Melbourne leading 22-12 at half-time, Deine Mariner and Gehamat Shibasaki scored doubles as Brisbane won their first premiership since 2006 (after losing in 2015 and 2023). It followed comebacks from 28-12 down against Canberra in the qualifying final and 14-0 down against Penrith in the preliminary final. It’s the first time Melbourne have lost consecutive grand finals in their history.

Brisbane scored in the opening two minutes, with Clive Churchill Medallist Reece Walsh throwing a cut-out pass for Mariner.

But Melbourne quickly found their groove: three tries in 14 minutes (Nick Meaney, Eliesa Katoa, Will Warbrick) to take a 16-6 lead.

Walsh’s solo try – beating multiple defenders – cut the margin to 16-12 before Jahrome Hughes answered with his own solo try to restore the Storm’s 10-point lead.

That Hughes try (and Nick Meaney’s conversion) would be Melbourne’s last points of the game.

Tui Kamikamica made a crucial error early in the second half, dropping the ball over the tryline, which could have given Melbourne a 16-point lead.

Brisbane got within four points through Gehamat Shibasaki a few minutes later, then lost captain Adam Reynolds (calf). While Ben Hunt stepped into halfback, he was knocked out with eight minutes left.

Mariner scored his second try in the 54th minute through another cut-out pass from Walsh, but Melbourne still led by two.

And another Walsh cut-out to Shibasaki gave Brisbane the lead with 22 minutes left.

With 12 minutes left, Ryan Papenhuyzen broke from a scrum and attempted a flick pass to Warbrick, who knocked on.

Brisbane’s premiership was all but sealed when Trent Loiero was sin binned for high contact in the 77th minute, though a tackle from Walsh on Papenhuyzen with 30 seconds left made absolutely sure of it.

Walsh’s finals series will go down as one of the most influential in recent times and he earnt his Clive Churchill Medal. He scored a try, had three try assists, and kicked the goal to put Brisbane ahead. And he played a vital part in Brisbane’s wins over the Raiders and Panthers. The premiership was also redemption for Reynolds and Hunt: Reynolds played in the losing 2021 and 2023 Grand Finals and Hunt had THAT Golden Point drop in the 2015 Grand Final.

It was a premiership double for Brisbane, with the Broncos women winning the NRLW Grand Final. Though Burleigh couldn’t seal the Queensland hat-trick, with the NZ Warriors beating the Bears in the State Championship.

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Results

NRL Grand Final: Melbourne Storm 22, Brisbane Broncos 26

Player Stats Table

Club	Position	Player Name	Tries	Conversions	1-pt FG	2-pt FG	Points
Storm	FB	Ryan Papenhuyzen	0	0	0	0	0
	W	Will Warbrick	1	0	0	0	4
	C	Jack Howarth	0	0	0	0	0
	C	Nick Meaney	1	3	0	0	10
	W	Xavier Coates	0	0	0	0	0
	5/8	Cameron Munster	0	0	0	0	0
	HB	Jahrome Hughes	1	0	0	0	4
	Prop	Stefano Utoikamanu	0	0	0	0	0
	Hooker	Harry Grant	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	Josh King	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	Shawn Blore	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	Eliesa Katoa	1	0	0	0	4
	Lock	Trent Loiero	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Tyran Wishart	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Ativalu Lisati	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Tui Kamikamica	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Alec MacDonald	0	0	0	0	0
	Replacement	Joe Chan	0	0	0	0	0

Club	Position	Player Name	Tries	Conversions	1-pt FG	2-pt FG	Points
Broncos	FB	Reece Walsh	1	1	0	0	6
	W	Josiah Karapani	0	0	0	0	0
	C	Kotoni Staggs	0	0	0	0	0
	C	Gehamat Shibasaki	2	0	0	0	8
	W	Deine Mariner	2	0	0	0	8
	5/8	Ben Hunt	0	0	0	0	0
	HB	Adam Reynolds	0	2	0	0	4
	Prop	Corey Jensen	0	0	0	0	0
	Hooker	Cory Paix	0	0	0	0	0
	Prop	Payne Haas	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	Brendan Piakura	0	0	0	0	0
	2nd Row	Jordan Riki	0	0	0	0	0
	Lock	Patrick Carrigan	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Ezra Mam	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Kobe Hetherington	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Xavier Willison	0	0	0	0	0
	Interchange	Tyson Smoothy	0	0	0	0	0
	Replacement	Jesse Arthars	0	0	0	0	0

10-Minute Try Breakdown – By Team

Time Period	Storm Tries	Storm Scorers	Broncos Tries	Broncos Scorers
0–10	1	Nick Meaney (7′)	1	Deine Mariner (2′)
11–20	1	Eliesa Katoa (13′)	0	–
21–30	1	Will Warbrick (21′)	1	Reece Walsh (30′)
31–40	1	Jahrome Hughes (34′)	0	–
41–50	0	–	1	Gehamat Shibasaki (45′)
51–60	0	–	2	Deine Mariner (54′), Gehamat Shibasaki (57′)
61–70	0	–	0	–
71–80	0	–	0	–

Score Timeline

Minute	Team	Player	Event Type	Storm Score	Broncos Score	Lead
0	–	–	Kick-off	0	0	Scores level
2	Broncos	Deine Mariner	Try	0	4	Broncos by 4
3	Broncos	Adam Reynolds	Conversion	0	6	Broncos by 6
7	Storm	Nick Meaney	Try	4	6	Broncos by 2
8	Storm	Nick Meaney	Conversion	6	6	Scores level
13	Storm	Eliesa Katoa	Try	10	6	Storm by 4
15	Storm	Nick Meaney	Conversion	12	6	Storm by 6
21	Storm	Will Warbrick	Try	16	6	Storm by 10
30	Broncos	Reece Walsh	Try	16	10	Storm by 6
31	Broncos	Adam Reynolds	Conversion	16	12	Storm by 4
34	Storm	Jahrome Hughes	Try	20	12	Storm by 8
36	Storm	Nick Meaney	Conversion	22	12	Storm by 10
45	Broncos	Gehamat Shibasaki	Try	22	16	Storm by 6
54	Broncos	Deine Mariner	Try	22	20	Storm by 2
57	Broncos	Gehamat Shibasaki	Try	22	24	Broncos by 2
58	Broncos	Reece Walsh	Conversion	22	26	Broncos by 4
80	–	–	Full-Time	22	26	Broncos by 4

Match Summary

• First Try Scorer: Deine Mariner (Brisbane Broncos – 2′)
• Last Try Scorer: Gehamat Shibasaki (Brisbane Broncos – 57′)
• Half-Time Score: Storm 22 – Broncos 12
• Full-Time Score: Storm 22 – Broncos 26
• Biggest Lead: Storm by 10 points (22–12 at 36′)
• Time Led: Storm 44 min (13′–57′) | Broncos 29 min (2′–8′ and 57′–80′) | Even ≈ 7 min
• Lead Changes: 2 ( Broncos → Storm at 13′ ; Storm → Broncos at 57′ )

NRLW Grand Final: Sydney Roosters 18, Brisbane Broncos 22

Sydney Roosters Women: 1. Brydie Parker, 2. Jayme Fressard, 3. Jessica Sergis, 4. Isabelle Kelly, 5. Mia Wood, 6. Corban Baxter, 7. Jocelyn Kelleher, 8. Otesa Pule, 9. Keeley Davis, 10. Rima Butler, 11. Aliyah Nasio, 12. Jasmin Strange, 13. Olivia Kernick, 14. Shawden Burton, 15. Macie Carlile, 16. Eliza Lopamaua, 17. Jayde Herdegen, 18. Taneisha Gray.

Brisbane Broncos Women: 1. Tamika Upton, 2. Kerri Johnson, 3. Mele Hufanga, 4. Julia Robinson, 5. Hayley Maddick, 6. Gayle Broughton, 7. Ali Brigginshaw, 8. Annetta-Claudia Nu’uausala, 9. Jada Ferguson, 10. Brianna Clark, 11. Lauren Dam, 12. Romy Teitzel, 13. Keilee Joseph, 14. Destiny Brill, 15. Chelsea Lenarduzzi, 16. Shenae Ciesiolka, 17. Shalom Sauaso, 18. Reegan Hicks.

NRL State Championship: New Zealand Warriors 50, Burleigh Bears 20

New Zealand Warriors: 1. Taine Tuaupiki, 2. Setu Tu, 3. Ali Leiataua, 4. Moala Graham-Taufa, 5. Edward Kosi, 6. Luke Hanson, 7. Tanah Boyd, 8. Bunty Afoa, 9. Paul Roache, 10. Tanner Stowers-Smith, 11. Kayliss Fatialofa, 12. Eddie Ieremia-Toeava, 13. Kalani Going , 14. Jett Cleary, 15. Jason Seu Salalilo, 16. Tom Ale, 17. Freddy Lussick, 18. Geronimo Doyle

Burleigh Bears: 1. Nicholas O’Meley, 2. Troy Leo, 3. Sami Sauiluma, 4. Kea Pere, 5. Mitch Watson, 6. Josh Rogers, 7. Guy Hamilton, 8. Fletcher Baker, 9. Samuel Healey, 10. Matthew Koellner, 11. Adam Christensen, 12. Ewan Moore, 13. Sam Coster, 14. Cole Geyer, 15. Lorenzo Mulitalo, 16. Takitau Mapapalangi, 17. Lochlyn Sheldon, 18. Jordan Scott