2017 (2017) NRL Grand Final
Melbourne Storm North Queensland Cowboys 34 6
1 2 Total MEL 18 16 34 NQL 0 6 6
Date	1 October 2017
Stadium	ANZ Stadium
Location	Sydney,New South Wales,Australia
Clive Churchill Medal	Billy Slater
Australian National anthem	Ricki-Lee Coulter
Referee	Matt Cecchin Gerard Sutton Nick Beashel (Touch Judge) Chris Butler (Touch Judge)
Attendance	79,722
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network (Live) Fox League (Delayed)
Commentators	Ray Warren Peter Sterling Wally Lewis Phil Gould Darren Lockyer (sideline) Brad Fittler (sideline)
NRL Grand Final ← 2016 2018 →

The2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney'sANZ Stadium.^[1] The match was contested between minor premiers theMelbourne Storm and the eighth-placedNorth Queensland Cowboys. The Melbourne club won the match 34 – 6 to claim their thirdpremiership title. Melbourne fullbackBilly Slater was awarded his secondClive Churchill Medal as the game's official man of the match.

The match was preceded by the2017 NRL Under-20s Grand Final and the 2017NRL State Championship. Pre-match entertainment was headlined by American rapperMacklemore, who attracted controversy for his scheduled performance of "Same Love" during the ongoingnationwide postal survey on same-sex marriage. The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by theNine Network.

Fairfax Media described the 2017 NRL Grand final as "one of the most one-sided grand finals in the NRL era".^[2]

This was the third time that a grand final was contested by two non-Sydney/New South Wales based teams, after the2006 Grand Final (Brisbane defeating Melbourne) and the2015 Grand Final (North Queensland defeating Brisbane), and the first to feature neither theBrisbane Broncos or a Sydney-based club. TheMelbourne Storm qualified for their seventh grand final since 2006, with only coachCraig Bellamy and halfbackCooper Cronk having been involved on each occasion. It was also the first time since 2009 that a side had reached a premiership decider in consecutive seasons, with the Storm having made four straight appearances between 2006-2009. TheNorth Queensland Cowboys made their first grand final appearance since their maiden premiership victory over theBrisbane Broncos in2015, as well as their third in the club's history. It was the first time since theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in2014 that a side reached a grand final from outside the top-four, the first time since theParramatta Eels in2009 to reach the grand final from as low as 8th position, and the first club to qualify from 8th under thecurrent final eight system that was implemented in 2012.

Claiming their third minor premiership, theMelbourne Storm finished the regular season on 44 competition points, six points clear of the second placedSydney Roosters in losing only 4 games from 24 matches. Their points differential of +297 was their highest amount since 2008. With a two-game home ground advantage, they defeated the fourth-placedParramatta Eels 18–16 to earn a week off and a place in the grand final qualifier, where they would beat theBrisbane Broncos 30–0 to reach a consecutive grand final.^[3][4] North Queensland only made the finals series after theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs defeated theSt. George Illawarra Dragons in the final round of the regular season. This result deniedSt. George Illawarra 8th spot and allowed the North Queensland side into the finals instead.^[5] North Queensland made a winning run defeating their next three opponents in the finals, all of whom were Sydney-based clubs. They defeated defending premiers, theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks 15–14 in extra time atAllianz Stadium,^[6] Parramatta 24–16 atANZ Stadium,^[7] and the Roosters 29–16 at Allianz Stadium,^[8] making it the first time they have reached a grand final without losing a finals match.

Melbourne and North Queensland have previously played each other in a finals series on three occasions. Their first meeting was in 2005 at, the then named,Aussie Stadium where North Queensland defeated Melbourne 24-16 in the Semi Final. Their second was in 2015, when North Queensland defeated Melbourne 32–12 at Melbourne'sAAMI Park to qualify for the Grand Final.^[9] Their third meeting was in the 2016 Qualifying Final, when Melbourne defeated North Queensland 16-10 at AAMI Park; Melbourne would earn a week off and finish runners-up that season.

Melbourne Storm halfbackCooper Cronk played in his seventh grand final after having previously featured in every premiership decider his club have reached since 2006. It would also be his last game for the Melbourne side after playing 323 first-grade games for the club. Cronk,Will Chambers,Cameron Smith,Jesse Bromwich, andBilly Slater were the last remaining members of their last premiership winning team in2012. TheNorth Queensland Cowboys had twelve players from their2015 Premiership winning side. Co-captainsJohnathan Thurston andMatt Scott are the most notable absentees from their last Grand Final appearance after both suffered long-term injuries during the season, although Scott was named as a reserve for the starting line-up. They were replaced byTe Maire Martin andScott Bolton (who was promoted to the starting line-up after coming off the bench in 2015) respectively, with Martin being transferred mid-season from thePenrith Panthers to cover the injured representative halfback. North Queensland utilityBen Hampton made a consecutive Grand Final appearance after playing for the Storm in their loss to theCronulla-Sutherland Sharks the preceding year'spremiership decider.

2017 NRL Grand Final

Sunday, 1 October 19:30AEDT (UTC+11)

Melbourne Storm	34 – 6	North Queensland Cowboys
Tries:6 Addo-Carr 20', 73' Kaufusi 28' Slater 38' Finucane 64' Scott 67' Goals:5 Smith 21',29',39',65',75'(5/6)	1st: 18–0 2nd: 16–6 Report	Tries:1 Martin 48' Goals:1 Lowe 49'(1/1)

ANZ Stadium,Sydney Attendance: 79,722 Referees:Matt Cecchin,Gerard Sutton Touch judges: Nick Beashel, Chris Butler Clive Churchill Medal:Billy Slater (Melbourne)

It was a tough night for the North Queensland side from the outset when Shaun Fensom was taken out of the game after a freak accident. Fensom tried to prevent a break from Melbourne but was tangled up with teammate Ethan Lowe. His leg was forced sideways and his grand final was over after just three minutes with a suspected broken tibia.After a lengthy stoppage of almost 10 minutes, the Melbourne side looked likely to score first despite some bruising defence fromAntonio Winterstein.

The first try came in the 19th minute when Will Chambers pounced on a loose ball 10m from his own line and beat a couple of defenders before offloading toJosh Addo-Carr, who sprinted 75m for the try. Cameron Smith converted and Melbourne lead 6-0.From that point on the Melbourne side went about their business with clinical precision. As usual, it was the kicking game ofCooper Cronk which was on fire, ably supported by his captain Cameron Smith. Cronk forced a dropout with a well-weighted kick and on the resulting play in the 28th minute, Slater drew two defenders and set upFelise Kaufusi who had a clear run to the line and gave Melbourne their second try. Smith converted and Melbourne lead 12-0.It went from bad to worse for North Queensland moments later when Winterstein made an error off a seemingly innocuous Cronk grubber. In a complete team performance, the “Big Three” had their fingerprints all over the execution of the plan and in the 37th minute, Cronk and Smith combined for Slater to slice through past Justin O’Neil for Melbourne's third try. Smith converted and Melbourne lead 18-0. Just before the half time siren, Feldt had set off on a long run after fielding aCooper Cronk kick. The Melbourne chase reflected the determination of the Melbourne players.

After just one penalty in the opening half, the Melbourne side conceded three in a row early in the second. It gave North Queensland a rare chance at the Melbourne try line and in the 47th minute,Te Maire Martin finally broke through Melbourne's defence to score. It was the first points the Melbourne side had conceded in 140 minutes of finals football. Ethan Lowe converted and the Melbourne side lead 18-6. North Queensland began to build pressure but couldn’t make the most of further sets inside Melbourne's 20.

Melbourne lockDale Finucane all but put the game to bed in the 64th minute with a barge over try on the back of an assist from Smith. Smith converted and Melbourne lead 24-6.The night was summed up from North Queensland in the 67th minute whenKane Linnett dropped the ball coming out of the defence. Curtis Scott scored a grand final try in his debut season after receiving a pass fromJosh Addo-Carr. Smith missed the conversion and Melbourne lead 28-6.

With the game well and truly over, Melbourne turned into theHarlem Globetrotters with Smith, Cronk, Slater andTohu Harris combining in the 73rd minute for a party-trick to set up Addo-Carr for his second try of the night. Smith converted and Melbourne lead 34-6. It was the icing on the cake for the best team of the season.^[10]

This was the last ever match of theNational Youth Competition, which was scrapped after 10 seasons in favour of a return to state-based Under 20s.

Sunday, 1 October 1:35pm (AEDT)

Parramatta Eels U20s	18 – 20	Manly Warringah Sea Eagles U20s
Tries: Dylan Brown (3')1 Denzal Tonise (16')1 Greg Leleisiuao (67')1 Goals: Dylan Brown3/4 (4', 11' pen, 17')	1st: 14 – 10 2nd: 4 – 10	Tries: 1 (29')Tevita Funa 1 (40') Bilal Maarbani 1 (43') Blake Andrews 1 (79') Keith Titmuss Goals: 2/4Tevita Funa (40', 80')

ANZ Stadium,Sydney Referee: Phil Henderson, Adam Cassidy Jack Gibson Medal: Cade Cust

The 2017 State Championship match featured theNSW Cup Premiers Penrith facingQueensland Cup premiers the Papua New Guinea Hunters.

Sunday, 1 October 3:40pm (AEDT)

Penrith Panthers	42 – 18	Papua New Guinea Hunters
Tries: Tony Satini (9', 11', 16', 40')4 Darren Nicholls (20')1 Viliame Kikau (31')1 Christian Crichton (38')1 Maika Sivo (47')1 Goals: Darren Nicholls5/8 (13', 17', 22', 34', 39') Sin Bin: Jarome Luai (68')	1st: 38 – 2 2nd: 4 – 16	Tries: 1 (69')Adex Wera 1 (72')Bland Abavu 1 (77')Ase Boas Goals: 3/4Ase Boas (3' pen, 70', 77')

ANZ Stadium,Sydney Referee: Jarrod Cole, Chris Treneman Man-of-the-Match medal: Kaide Ellis

By winning the Grand Final, the Melbourne Storm qualified for the2018 World Club Challenge against theSuper League XXII championsLeeds Rhinos. The match would be staged in Australia for only the fourth time, where the Storm defeated the Rhinos 38–4.^[11]

American rapperMacklemore was booked to perform four songs, accompanied by singersEric Nally andMary Lambert, including "Same Love".^[12] The song topped theAustralian chartsin 2013, and was regarded as an anthem for same-sex marriage advocates duringthe campaign in Macklemore's home state ofWashington. In the days leading up to the grand final, the single returned to the top of the AustralianiTunes charts.^[13]

Several prominent conservative politicians voiced strong opposition to the scheduled performance of "Same Love", given its high-profile support for the 'Yes' campaign during the voting period of theAustralian Marriage Law Postal Survey.^[14][15] Former Prime MinisterTony Abbott tweeted his disapproval of a "politicised grand final," while North Queensland crossbencherBob Katter described allowing Macklemore's grand final performance as "tantamount to seeping sewage into thedebutante ball." Macklemore acknowledged the controversy several days before the final, but vowed to "go harder" as a result.^[16]

• NRL Premiership winners
• 2017 NRL Finals Series

• 2017 NRL season
• NRL Grand Finals
• October 2017 sports events in Australia
• Melbourne Storm matches
• North Queensland Cowboys matches

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use dmy dates from January 2017