Nick Tedeschi counts down the top ten greatest NRL Grand Finals of all time ahead of the 2025 decider on Sunday, October 5!
10
1976: Manly defeated Parramatta 13-10
The most memorable decider of the 1970s, it is a Grand Final remembered for very different reasons depending which team you were cheering. For victors Manly, it was their third title in five years and also the final game in maroon and white for club icon Bob Fulton. For the Eels faithful, it was a gut-wrenching end to their first Grand Final after 30 mostly miserable years most remembered for winger Neville Glover spilling the ball with the line wide open in the final minutes, dropping likely the premiership-winning try in the most famous Grand Final spill until Ben Hunt took his infamy in 2015.
9
1965: St George defeated South Sydney 12-8
There has arguably never been a more fevered lead-up to a decider with the Dragons looking to extend their famous title run to 10 as the emerging South Sydney side sought to end it. An official crowd of 78,000 packed the SCG but the crowd was significantly more with many more patrons climbing onto nearby roofs to watch. In what turned out to be Saints skipper Norm Provan’s final game, Souths jumped to a 2-0 lead on the back of a 55-yard penalty from Bruce Longbottom but St George got to a handy lead on the back of a Johnny King try and held on to win 12-8.
8
1999: Melbourne defeated St George Illawarra 20-18
Few finishes to a Grand Final have been as contentious or as memorable as that of the 1999 Grand Final as a crowd of just under 108,000 packed Stadium Australia for the first decider at the venue. The upstart Storm were in just their second season but were notable outsiders against an all-star St George Illawarra outfit. The Dragons led 14-0 at halftime with the highlight being a sublime bootlace pick-up and run from speedster Nathan Blacklock. The Storm fought their way back into the contest and led 18-14 when a bomb was launched to the corner. As Melbourne winger Craig Smith looked to pull the ball in, he was hit high by Dragons winger Jamie Ainscough. Video referee Chris Ward awarded the Storm a penalty try and Matt Geyer’s kick from in front sealed a famous-if-controversial Grand Final win.
7
2004: Canterbury defeated Sydney Roosters 16-13
There was no love lost when the two dominant teams of the early 2000s met in the 2004 Grand Final. It was the third straight decider for the Sydney Roosters while it was the first for the Bulldogs after having their record-breaking 2002 season ended by the infamous salary cap scandal that saw them docked 37 premiership points. The Roosters led 13-6 at halftime in a dominant first half display but tries to Matt Utai and Hazem El Masri gave the Bulldogs a 16-13 lead, one they grimly held on to until a last-play Andrew Ryan tackle on Michael Crocker when the Roosters forward looked to have broken the line secured the win.
6
1967: South Sydney defeated Canterbury 12-10
After winning 11 straight Grand Finals, St George’s absence from the 1967 decider was the story as a level of freshness and excitement descended on the game with either Canterbury or South Sydney to lift the JJ Giltinan Shield. The Berries had famously ended the Saints run a week prior in a 12-11 thriller and led 8-5 just before the break before Souths second rower Bob McCarthy intercepted a Kevin Brown pass and ran the length of the field. The scores were again level before Eric Simms kicked Souths to a 12-10 win with five minutes remaining.
5
1963: St George defeated Western Suburbs 8-3
The most controversial Grand Final in premiership history that to this day has the pall of betting skullduggery hanging over it, St George defeated a Western Suburbs team known as ‘The Millionaires’ on the back of the most controversial Grand Final try ever awarded. In teaming rain on a field of mud, Saints winger Johnny King scored a try after getting up and running following a tackles Wests players claim was completed. It only added to the dark circumstances surrounding the officiating with referee Darcy Lawler alleged by Wests prop Jack Gibson prior to the game to have backed St George. On a more positive note, the famous ‘Gladiators’ image of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons that became the premiership trophy in 1982 was taken in the moments following the match.
4
1997 (ARL): Newcastle defeated Manly 22-16
For the second time in three years, Manly would falter on the biggest stage as a near-unbackable favourite in a decider. Remembered for Darren Albert’s famous match-winning try in the final minute to crown Newcastle’s first premiership, it was a match filled with action and drama from beginning to end. Manly led 16-8 and still led by six with five minutes to go when Robbie O’Davis squirmed his way over to level the scores. With time ticking down, future Immortal Andrew Johns remarkably passed on the opportunity for a match-winning field goal, darting down the short side and sending Albert over with an inside ball that will live as long as Newcastle exists.
3
2023: Penrith defeated Brisbane 26-24
There has arguably been no more impressive individual performance in a Grand Final than that of Nathan Cleary in the 2023 decider. In what was the finest performance of his career, the mercurial Panthers No.7 masterminded a Penrith comeback for the ages to deliver a third straight premiership to the foot of the mountains. Cleary put Moses Leota over with 17 minutes to play, kicked a key 40-20 and then scored the match-winning try with a sublime step and run. The Broncos still cannot believe they let the match and the premiership slip.
2
2015: North Queensland defeated Brisbane 17-16
Brisbane appeared destined to end a near-decade long title drought – the longest in their short history – when leading 16-12 with seconds to play in the 2015 decider against in-state rivals North Queensland. A wild side-to-side play that ended with Michael Morgan delivering a flick pass for the ages and Kyle Feldt diving over in the corner to level the scores though put those claims in doubt. Future Immortal Johanthan Thurston heartbreakingly hit the post with what would have been the premiership-winning conversion but glory would come to the Cowboys minutes later when Broncos half Ben Hunt dropped the golden point kickoff and Thurston slotted the winning field goal.
1
1989: Canberra defeated Balmain 19-14
Still regarded by most as the greatest Rugby League match ever played, the 1989 Grand Final featured an incredible 25 representative players, the first decider to go to extra-time and the first premiership claimed by a team from outside of Sydney. Balmain led 12-2 and were up 14-8 inside the last 20 minutes when victory was close to sealed. A Benny Elias field goal rattled off the crossbar and Mal Meninga ankle-tapped Mick Neil with the line wide open to keep Canbea in the game and with 90 seconds left John Ferguson collected a bomb to score and Mal Meninga slotted the conversion to force extra-time. Warren Ryan’s decision to take off star forwards Steve Roach and Paul Sironen remains a bone of contention for Tigers fans to this day as the Raiders swept home to a 19-14 win on the back of a Chris O’Sullivan field goal and Steve Jackson’s famous rampaging try.