The 2025 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league game contested between the Melbourne Storm and the Brisbane Broncos on 5 October at Accor Stadium in Sydney, to determine the 2025 NRL premiers. Brisbane defeated Melbourne 26–22 after trailing by ten points at half-time to claim the Provan-Summons Trophy for the first time since 2006, their seventh premiership title overall, and the first team to become premiers from as low as fourth on the ladder since the Wests Tigers in 2005. Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for player of the match, after scoring a try, making three try-assists, and numerous try-saving defensive plays. His performance has since been considered as one of the greatest in NRL grand final history, and a crucial factor in helping the Broncos' premiership victory.
Brisbane's end-of-season surge to the final contributed to the match's interest, with the team being as low as 11th on the ladder throughout the season, as well as Brisbane halfback Ben Hunt appearing in his first grand final since dropping the kick-off during golden point in the 2015 final, and their fullback Walsh going on a career-defining run of form after a video of him drinking out of a newly-installed toilet went viral on social media. Melbourne became the first club to lose back-to-back grand finals since the Sydney Roosters in 2004, despite finishing second overall during the regular season, while facing injuries and suspensions that kept their team from being consistent throughout the season, but experienced a run of form in the lead-up to the final. Melbourne's significance in the final was encompassed by Craig Bellamy breaking the record for most grand final appearances as a coach, and prop Stefano Utoikamanu calling some Brisbane players "stuck up" in the pre-match press conference. In addition, the match was the first grand final since 2019 to not feature the Penrith Panthers.
The match was preceded by the 2025 NRL State Championship, won by the New Zealand Warriors; and the NRL Women's Premiership grand final, also won by the Brisbane Broncos.
The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network. It became the most-watched grand final in NRL history, with 4.55million people tuning in for the entire match and was the most-watched program on Australian television in 2025.
Background 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. Their last finals meeting came in the 2023 NRL finals series, where Brisbane won 26–0 in the qualifying final.
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
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. In addition, Melbourne saw the return of many members of the team that were featured in the 2024 final, including 2024 Dally M Player of the Year, Jahrome Hughes. Their long-time coach, Craig Bellamy, would continue with his 23rd season with the club, coaching his 600th game during the season.
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. Despite this, they were still seen as favourites for a top four position at the end of the season.
Injuries and suspensions began to affect their main lineup as the season progressed. 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. Their round 21 match against the Sydney Roosters would prove to be a challenging triumph for the team, with Hughes suffering a dislocated shoulder during their 34-30 victory while attempting to make a tackle, and would be sidelined for the next six weeks. 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.
A showdown with the Brisbane Broncos in round 23 set the team on-track, holding Brisbane try-less in a game for the first time since 2021. 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. Melbourne's ability to close out close was becoming an essential skill as coach Bellamy continued to bemoan the team's inconsistencies. 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. Bellamy once again criticised his team's defence as being "as soft as butter".
In round 27, already guaranteed second place on the regular season table, and second seed in the finals series, Melbourne entered the final game of the regular season against their future grand final opponents —their second meeting in four weeks, treating the match as a final's series practice. 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. Ultimately, Melbourne would lose to Brisbane 30-14, although finished the regular season with a 17-7 win-loss record.
Finals series +Melbourne Storm's route to the finalRoundOppositionScoreCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (H)26–18BYECronulla-Sutherland Sharks (H)22–14Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue Melbourne entered the finals series as the second seeds, therefore facing third seeds, Canterbury-Bankstown, in the qualifying final. 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. Despite the win, Bellamy had mixed feelings about the team's inconsistent performance throughout the game, praising their defence but criticising their attack. The win also gave Melbourne a bye for the semi-finals and a preliminary final on home soil.
In the preliminary final versus the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Papenhuyzen and Hughes returned, despite Hughes broken-arm not being fully healed. Hughes' defensive performance proving pivotal while also not missing a beat in attack, scoring a try during the match. 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 grand final appearance would also mark coach Bellamy's 11th grand final appearance as a coach.
Brisbane Broncos
Regular season Brisbane began the 2025 season having missed the finals in 2024, finishing 12th. 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. His hiring immediately started gaining significant attention as shaking the 'Brisbane status-quo', Maguire gave each player a "clean slate" and installed a 'high performance-based' standard, not being afraid to drop players who were not performing or training up to expectations regardless of salary, with the decision process isolating former Brisbane players who had close ties to the club and its pre-Maguire system. The first of these decisions, that would turn out to be a breakthrough moment for the team was the promotion of Gehamat Shibasaki to the main squad who signed to the club on a developmental contract in the off-season. Maguire, in defence of his decision to promote Shibasaki and criticism of his coaching standards and decision making, said "it was about performing at training and (Shibasaki) has done a great job. He has been around first grade before and is not a pup". Maguire also confirmed that Adam Reynolds would remain as captain, in part due to their pre-existing relationship, with Maguire being coach of the Rabbitohs while Reynolds played at the club, with Maguire praising Reynolds leadership skills and connection with the team.
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. When conducting his first media conference back in the pre-season, Hunt stated his reasons for returning to Brisbane included winning a premiership, giving back to the club that gave him his first opportunity in the NRL, and preparing for winding down his playing career. Despite being bought to fill in the hooker position, he spent most of the year filling in his old role during his first stint at the Broncos, playing five-eighth and halfback, due to injuries and suspensions that would cause his teammates to miss the majority of the season.