Penrith and Brisbane will meet in the 2023 Grand Final after enjoying comfortable preliminary final wins.
PENRITH 38, MELBOURNE 4
Penrith has qualified for their fourth straight grand final.
Playing Melbourne at Homebush, the two-time reigning premiers were ruthless: scoring six tries to one, with a Brian To’o hat-trick, and leading 18-4 at half-time. Nathan Cleary (a try and seven goals) scored 18 points by himself.
While there was controversy over moving the preliminary final from BlueBet Stadium, Penrith (who haven’t played at Accor Stadium since April) would have appreciated an early tune up at next Sunday’s grand final venue.
As for Melbourne, they did well to return to the top four after an early finals exit in 2022, but were blown away after last week’s tight win over the Sydney Roosters.
Though, after three premierships and five grand finals since their salary cap dramas, are Melbourne finally coming back to the pack? While the Storm will always be a finals contender (often in the top four mix), they haven’t made a grand final since 2020. Can Craig Bellamy win another premiership with the Storm before he eventually leaves?
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BRISBANE 42, WARRIORS 12
Brisbane will play Penrith in the 2023 NRL Grand Final.
Infront of a packed-out Suncorp Stadium, the Broncos weathered a fast start from the “Wahs” in the preliminary final: a double to Dallin Watene-Zelezniak giving the visitors an 8-6 lead.
But Brisbane dominated from there, with doubles to Billy Walters and Herbie Farnworth.
Though there was some controversy, with a seemingly clear forward pass from Reece Walsh missed in the lead up to Jordan Riki’s try in the 54th minute (giving Brisbane a 30-12 lead). And Adam Pompey was sin binned in the 58th minute after impeding Kotoni Staggs from possibly scoring.
It’s Brisbane’s first grand final since 2015, while (despite the loss) the Warriors can be proud of an excellent season, where they became everyone’s second favourite team.
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