The 2026 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league grand final match contested between the Sydney Roosters and the Newcastle Knights at Accor Stadium in Sydney, on Sunday, 4 October 2026. The match determined the 2026 NRL premiers. The Roosters defeated Newcastle 19–18 after trailing by six points at half-time to claim the Provan-Summons Trophy for the first time since 2019. It was their 16th premiership title overall which advances them to outright second on the all-time NRL premiership tally. Roosters fullback and captain James Tedesco was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for being judged as player of the match.
The match was preceded by the 2026 NRL State Championship and the NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final.
Background
2026 season
+Sydney Roosters' finals resultsRoundOppositionVenueScorePenrith PanthersCommBank Stadium (A)19–12Cronulla SharksAllianz Stadium (H)46–10Dolphins Suncorp Stadium (A)20–36Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue
+Newcastle Knights' finals resultsRoundOppositionVenueScoreSouth Sydney RabbitohsAllianz Stadium (A)10–20New Zealand WarriorsEden Park (A)10–12Penrith Panthers Accor Stadium (A)14–22Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue The 2026 NRL season was the 119th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 29th 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.
It was the first grand final meeting between the Sydney Roosters and the Newcastle Knights, and was the first premiership decider since the 2020 NRL Grand Final in which neither team had featured in the preceding year's match. The Roosters finished 4th on the premiership ladder with 16 wins from 24 matches, whilst the Knights achieved 14 wins and finished 7th. For the first time since 2005, both grand finalists had played every round of the finals series. The Roosters last played in a grand final in 2019 when they defeated the Canberra Raiders. The Knights ended the longest active grand final drought in the NRL, having not reached a grand final in 25 years since they defeated the Parramatta Eels in 2001. They became the first side since the North Queensland Cowboys in 2017 to reach the grand final from outside the top four. The Roosters and Knights last faced each other in the finals during the 2013 season, with the Roosters winning 40–14 in the preliminary finals before going on to become the season's premiers.
Newcastle Knights farewell parade incident During a farewell parade for the Knights on 3 October, a car lost control on the Newcastle Link Road and crashed into a crowd of supporters waiting for the team bus to pass. Ten people, including children, were injured, two of whom critically, and 18-year-old provisionally-licenced driver Indika Bambrick Samarasinghe was arrested by NSW Police; he was later charged with multiple counts of dangerous and negligent driving occasioning grievous bodily harm.
Pre-match Broadcasting Television The match was broadcast live on the Nine Network in Australia and 9Now, and on Sky Sport in New Zealand. Mathew Thompson, Andrew Johns, and Billy Slater were the commentators for the match, joined by Danika Mason and Brad Fittler on the sidelines. The coverage was hosted by James Bracey. Thompson has led Nine's grand final commentary since taking over from Ray Warren in 2022.
Fox League produced their own commentary for the replay of the match on subscription television, with veteran commentator Andrew Voss calling his first grand final as play-by-play commentator after working in the game for more than 40 years. The Fox League coverage had in the past usually been led by Warren Smith, who missed the entire 2026 NRL season due to multiple voice box surgeries.
Radio Radio broadcasters included ABC, Triple M, 2GB, 4BC, and NRL Nation.
Officiating Adam Gee was appointed as the referee for the match. He previously was the main referee for the 2023 NRL Grand Final. Tyson Brough and Phil Henderson were appointed as touch judges, while Chris Butler was chosen as the bunker review official. Gee was favoured for the role following the demotion of Ashley Klein after his controversial performance during Newcastle's win over the New Zealand Warriors in their semi-final. +Match officials PositionName StandbyRefereeAdam GeeGerard SuttonTouch JudgesPhil Henderson, Tyson BroughMatt NoyenBunker Review OfficialChris Butler
Entertainment Pre-game entertainment was initially set to be performed by Australian singer Tones and I; however, negotiations reportedly fell through after she declined to sing her breakout single, "Dance Monkey". The singer later cited "scheduling conflicts" as the reason. On 28 September 2026, Peter V'landys announced a new act had been acquired, although it would not be revealed until the day of the match.
On 30 September, it was confirmed that Jai Arrow would complete a lap of honour before the Grand Final, accompanied by a performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone". Arrow was paraded around the field with former Wallabies player Nathan Charles who had also recently shared his diagnosis with motor neuron disease.
The performers, announced on 2 October 2026, included singers Amy Shark, Dave Gleeson from The Screaming Jets, Phil Jamieson from Grinspoon, as well as musicians from Peking Duk, and Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers. The group performed the 1990s rugby league anthem "The Best" to close the prematch segment.
Following the scoring of the first try, the stadium DJ played "Dance Monkey" much to the amusement of many spectators.
The Australian National Anthem was performed by Zimbabwean-Australian singer Emily Nkomo, who was playing Nala in the Australian production of The Lion King at Sydney's Capitol Theatre.
Teams The Sydney Roosters squad as named on the Tuesday before the match was unchanged from their preliminary final win against the Dolphins. Utility player Connor Watson had suffered a concussion in that match and was initially named in the squad pending clearance from an independent neurologist, but was later ruled out after he was not cleared to play. The Roosters included five players (Tedesco, Tupou, Radley, Crichton and Butcher) who played in the team's last NRL Grand Final in 2019. Five-eighth Daly Cherry-Evans had previously featured in grand final matches with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles (2011 and 2013), winning the Clive Churchill Medal in the 2013 NRL Grand Final against the Roosters. At 37 years and 183 days, Cherry-Evans broke the record of Cameron Smith (37 years, 130 days in 2020) as the oldest player to line up in NRL grand final history.
Following the suspension of Newcastle Knights hooker Phoenix Crossland, who received a four-match ban from the NRL Judiciary following a dangerous tackle that broke the leg of Penrith's Nathan Cleary in the Knights' preliminary final victory, Newcastle made one change to their lineup, with Harrison Graham named to start the match. The Knights had only one player with previous grand final experience — Dane Gagai featuring at centre for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the 2021 NRL Grand Final. Other Newcastle players to miss the match were the injured Dylan Brown, who suffered a serious knee injury in July, and the suspended Jacob Saifiti, who was sent off in the Knights' final match of the regular season and suspended for four matches.
Match summary Despite the close scoreline, and a 12–0 deficit early on, the game was largely dominated by the Sydney Roosters. After Newcastle scored two converted tries in the first half-hour, the Roosters pulled one back through Mark Nawaqanitawase before half-time and went on to score another two tries, a penalty and a Daly Cherry-Evans field goal unanswered as the Knights players tired. A late try from Newcastle's Greg Marzhew against the run of play set up a grandstand finish with three minutes remaining, but the Knights were unable to capitalise on the momentum shift and Sydney saw the game out by carrying the ball defensively in the final set.
Clive Churchill Medal Sydney Roosters fullback James Tedesco was presented the Clive Churchill Medal by Peter Sterling, who won the medal in the 1986 Grand Final. Tedesco was instrumental in the Roosters victory, running for 385 metres to set the record for most run metres in any NRL finals match. Scoreboard
Post-match Newcastle captain Kalyn Ponga was charged by the NRL match review committee with a grade one careless high tackle charge for a 25th minute tackle on Sydney Roosters forward Victor Radley. Ponga was fined $1,000 by the NRL Judiciary for the incident after taking an early guilty plea.
The Roosters win was the fourth NRL premiership title won by forward Spencer Leniu after his previous three premierships with the Penrith Panthers (2021–2023). Leniu was subsequently released from his contract at the Roosters following the match, ending his time at the club after three seasons.
In his final NRL match before a switch to Super League to play with Hull F.C., Roosters halfback Daly Cherry-Evans won his second premiership, 15 years after his first when playing for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in 2011.
Following the Grand Final, Roosters winger Daniel Tupou announced his retirement from rugby league. The 35-year-old left the sport with four premierships (2013, 2018, 2019, 2026) after playing 307 NRL matches in a career spanning from 2012 through 2026. The Grand Final was also the final match for both Angus Crichton and Mark Nawaqanitawase who were both finished their time in the code to play rugby union.
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 and Fox League. NRL State Championship
Queensland Cup premiers Redcliffe Dolphins set records for the highest score and winning margin in their 68–14 win against the NSW Cup premiers Penrith Panthers. Dolphins five-eighth Jake Averillo was announced as the player of the match, scoring three tries in the match ahead of his move to the Wests Tigers in 2027.
NRL Women's Premiership Grand Final
References