| 2019 (2019) NRL Grand Final | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Date | 6 October 2019 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | ANZ Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Sydney,New South Wales,Australia | ||||||||||||
| Clive Churchill Medal |  Jack Wighton | ||||||||||||
| Australian National anthem | Natalie Bassingthwaighte | ||||||||||||
| Referee | Ben Cummins Gerard Sutton Nick Beashel (Touch Judge) Chris Butler (Touch Judge) | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 82,922 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
| Broadcasters |
| ||||||||||||
| Commentators | |||||||||||||
The2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the2019 National Rugby League season and was played atSydney'sANZ Stadium.[1][2] The match was contested between defending premiers theSydney Roosters and theCanberra Raiders. The match was won by theSydney Roosters 14–8 in a tight contest to claim their 15th premiership title, making them the first club in 26 years to win consecutive premierships in a unified competition since theBrisbane Broncos in 1993, and the first Sydney Roosters side to win consecutive titles since 1975. TheClive Churchill Medal was awarded to Raiders five-eighthJack Wighton as the game's man of the match.
The game is one of the most controversial grand finals, infamous for a reversed "six again" decision by refereeBen Cummins which preceded the winning try.[2]
 | This sectiondoes notcite anysources. Please helpimprove this section byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged andremoved.(December 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Sydney finished second on the premiership ladder with a record of 17–7. The club comfortably defeatedSouth Sydney 30–6 to qualify for the preliminary final, then defeated minor premiersMelbourne 14–6 in the preliminary final to qualify for the grand final. Having won the2018 premiership, the Roosters were aiming to win back-to-back premierships, and become the first team since theBrisbane Broncos in the 1992-93 NSWRL to do so in a unified competition.[3]Trent Robinson coached the side to its third grand final in his seventh year coaching the Roosters.
Canberra finished fourth on the premiership ladder with a 15–9 record. The club won through to the grand final with a 12–10 win over Melbourne in the qualifying final, then a 16–10 win over South Sydney in the preliminary final. It was the club's first grand final appearance since1994, breaking the longest drought of appearances in club history. Raiders coachRicky Stuart was coaching his first grand final for Canberra in his sixth year with the club; it was his fourth grand final as a coach overall, having led the Roosters to the game in2002,2003 and2004.
It was the first time theSydney Roosters and theCanberra Raiders contested a Grand Final. The sides faced each other twice during the season, with the Roosters winning both games: a 30–24 win in round 9 on the neutralSuncorp Stadium duringMagic Round, and a 22–18 win atGIO Stadium in round 21.
The match was broadcast live on theNine Network and delayed onFox League in Australia andSky Sport in New Zealand. Radio broadcasters includeABC,Triple M,2GB,SEN andKoori Radio.
Curtain-raiser matches on the day will include two matches
Game-day entertainment will be headlined byOneRepublic,Darryl Braithwaite andChristine Anu
| Sydney Roosters | Position | Canberra Raiders |
|---|---|---|
| James Tedesco | Fullback | Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad |
| Daniel Tupou | Wing | Nick Cotric |
| Latrell Mitchell | Centre | Jarrod Croker (c) |
| Joseph Manu | Centre | Joseph Leilua |
| Brett Morris | Wing | Jordan Rapana |
| Luke Keary | Five-eighth | Jack Wighton |
| Cooper Cronk | Halfback | Aidan Sezer |
| Jared Waerea-Hargreaves | Prop | Josh Papalii |
| Sam Verrills | Hooker | Josh Hodgson (c) |
| Isaac Liu | Prop | Sia Soliola |
| Boyd Cordner (c) | 2nd Row | John Bateman |
| Mitchell Aubusson | 2nd Row | Elliott Whitehead |
| Victor Radley | Lock | Joseph Tapine |
| Angus Crichton | Interchange | Bailey Simonsson |
| Nat Butcher | Interchange | Emre Guler |
| Sio Siua Taukeiaho | Interchange | Corey Horsburgh |
| Jake Friend | Interchange | Dunamis Lui |
| Trent Robinson | Coach | Ricky Stuart |
         Sydney |   Canberra |
Brett Morris,Sam Verrills,Angus Crichton,Nat Butcher were the only new additions to the Roosters' grand final winning squad from the previous year. For the Canberra Raiders, all but one of their players played in their first NRL grand final, with centreJoseph Leilua having played for the Roosters in the2010 Premiership decider; their second-row forwardJohn Bateman had their most first grade grand final experience, having played in fourSuper League grand finals for theWigan Warriors.
Sydney Roosters halfbackCooper Cronk was playing his 372nd and final game(323 of which were for theMelbourne Storm), retiring as the second most-capped NRL player in the competition's history. The match was his ninth first grade grand final, making him the first player sinceRon Coote in 1975 to reach that mark; onlyNorm Provan andBrian Clay had played in more grand finals, with ten apiece. Having won premierships with Melbourne in 2017 and Sydney in 2018 and 2019, he became the first player since nine members of theParramatta Eels 1981–83 teams to be involved in three straight premiership victories.[N 1]
The officiating team, comprising two referees, two touch judges, two review officials and a stand-by in each position is given below. All four on-field officials,Ben Cummins,Gerard Sutton, Nick Beashel and Chris Butler, had officiated in previous NRL grand finals.
| Position | Stand-By | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Referees: | Ben Cummins(5) | Gerard Sutton(5) | Grant Atkins | |
| Touch Judges: | Nick Beashel(3) | Chris Butler(2) | David Munro | |
| Bunker: | Jared Maxwell | Ben Galea |
Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals officiated, including 2019.
Sunday, 6 October 7:40pm (AEDT) |
Sydney Roosters | 14 – 8 | Canberra Raiders |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Verrills (7')1 Tedesco (73')1 Goals: Mitchell3/5 (8', 21' pen, 74') Sin Bin: Cronk (50') | 1st: 8 – 6 2nd: 6 – 2 | Tries: 1 (31')Wighton Goals: 2/2Croker (32', 50' pen) |
Unfortunate circumstances robbed Canberra of an early scoring chance in the 3rd minute: Canberra propSia Soliola charged downLuke Keary's fifth tackle kick, but the ball bounced back off Roosters trainer Travis Touma, who was jogging around seven metres behind play. With no Roosters in the backfield and Raiders' second-rowerElliott Whitehead in best position to pursue the ball, Canberra would have been in a strong position to chase down an opening try; but, instead, the incident fell under the 'mutual interference' rule, resulting in a scrum feed to the Roosters, since the incident occurred in its defensive half.[4][5] From the ensuing set of six, the Roosters earned a repeat set and attacked the Canberra line:Boyd Cordner crossed but was held up in the 5th minute, beforeSam Verrills scored the first try of the game in the 7th minute, grounding the ball next to the posts with a 10m run from dummy-half.Latrell Mitchell converted, and the Roosters led 6–0.[4]
Following the opening try, Canberra gained the territory advantage and made several attacking raids, including a bargeover attempt by Whitehead in the 11th minute which was held up, and several attacking bomb kicks; however, Canberra was unable to find the tryline. During this period, Roosters forwardMitchell Aubusson left the field with a match-ending knee injury.[4] In the 19th minute, as Sydney advanced, Canberra'sJoseph Tapine tackled Sydney'sVictor Radley high, and Mitchell converted a 35-metre penalty to extend the lead to 8–0.[4]
In the 30th minute, Canberra earned a repeat set after Sydney Roosters full-backJames Tedesco fumbled an aerial contest for a bomb kick 10m from his defensive try line. On the next tackle,Jack Wighton broke the line between Sydney Roosters defendersBoyd Cordner andAngus Crichton to score Canberra's first try.Jarrod Croker converted to reduce the margin to 8–6.[4]
The Canberra side fumbled the first play-the-ball after the restart, giving theSydney Roosters the territory advantage, but several attacking raids came up short. In the last seconds before half-time before half time, Croker was penalised for interfering withBrett Morris in the chase for an attacking bomb; Mitchell's kick from near the sideline missed, and the half-time margin was 8–6.[4]
Canberra dominated the game for the early part of the second half, with several near scoring chances in the first ten minutes. In the 50th minute, asJohn Bateman attempted a close-quarters pass near the posts toJosh Papalii, who was tackled by retiring Sydney half-backCooper Cronk before the pass arrived; the referee sent Cronk to the sin bin for ten minutes for a professional foul, and asked the bunker to review for a possible penalty try, which it ruled against. Croker leveled the score at 8–8 from the penalty kick.[4] During Cronk's ten minutes off the field, Canberra continued to dominate possession, but were held out by the Roosters; their only close scoring chance came in the 60th minute, when a chain of fifth tackle passes to the right wing put Brett Morris over in the corner, but was called back whenJoseph Leilua's final flick pass was forward.
In the 67th minute, a pass by Radley sawSio Siua Taukeiaho break the line to swing territory in Sydney's favour; and soon after winning a repeat set from a bomb kick, the Roosters won a penalty for a high tackle against Canberra'sAidan Sezer on Luke Keary. Mitchell missed the wide angle kick, and the score remained 8–8.[4]
The game's most controversial moment came in the 71st minute. A Canberra fifth tackle bomb kick was contested in the air 10m from the try line, and bounced backwards off the Canberra chaser's shoulder toJosh Hodgson. Controlling refereeBen Cummins, believing the ball had hit Sydney full-back James Tedesco, signalled and called 'six again'; seconds later, on the advice of assistant referee Gerard Sutton and touch judge Chris Butler, he changed the signal and call to fifth tackle. The play ended with Jack Wighton, who did not hear or see the changed call, and he took a safe tackle rather than launch another fifth-tackle attacking option, resulting in a changeover.[4][5]
From the ensuing set, on fourth tackle,Latrell Mitchell broke the line down the left wing at midfield with a flick pass toDaniel Tupou which ended with a try toJames Tedesco. Mitchell converted, and the Roosters took a 14–8 lead.[4] An even contest ensued over the last six minutes, theSydney Roosters able to defend its lead and win the game, 14–8.
Canberra was considered to have played better overall, with more scoring opportunities and territory, but was unable to convert this into a winning score.[4] Overall, the Raiders held 54% of possession. They played with much greater variation in attack, throwing 19 offloads to Sydney's 1, and launching 15 bomb and grubber kicks to Sydney's 9.[6] TheClive Churchill Medal for man of the match was awarded to Canberra five-eighthJack Wighton, who scored one try and led the Raiders' kicking game.
The win made theSydney Roosters the first club since theBrisbane Broncos in 1992 and 1993 NSWRL seasons to win back-to-back premierships in a unified competition, and the first ever in the post-schism NRL competition. It was the first time the Roosters had won consecutive titles since 1974 and 1975.
The game is widely remembered for Cummins erroneous 'six again' call and the impact it had leading up to the winning try. Following the game, the NRL acknowledged the error and regretted the confusion it caused, while also confirming that the eventual call of fifth tackle was correct and endorsing Cummins' right to change his call on the advice of his assistant referees.[5] Nevertheless, the call drew condemnation from Raiders' and neutral observers. Many analysts also disputed the league's endorsement of Cummins' right to change the call, citing NRL Law 16.9 which allows a judgement call to be changed on another referee's advice only in the event of foul play.[7]
The game's other controversial decisions – the 'mutual interference' with the Roosters' trainer, and the sin binning of Cooper Cronk – were both also endorsed by the league's review.[5] However, the 'mutual interference' rule was acknowledged to be an outdated rule, remnant from an era when territory was more valuable than possession.[7]
Twoopening matches were played on the ground prior to the grand final: theNRL State Championship – in which theNewtown Jets scored a try as time expired to snatch victory from theBurleigh Bears – and theNRL Women's Grand Final, won comfortably by theBrisbane Broncos Women's. Pre-match entertainment was headlined by American pop rock bandOneRepublic.Natalie Bassingthwaighte performed theAdvance Australia Fair. The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by theNine Network.
Newtown Jets | 20 – 16 |  Burleigh Bears |
|---|---|---|
| Tries:4 Katoa  54', 76'Ferris 63', 80'Goals:2 Trindall  pen 19'(1/4)Eastwood 80'(1/1)Sin bin: 1 Mulitalo  38' to 48' | 1st: 2–10 2nd: 18–6 Report | Tries:3 Don 22', 30'Fogarty 47'Goals:2 Fogarty 32',48'(2/3) |
Sunday, 6 October 4:05pm (AEDT) |
Brisbane Broncos Women's | 30 – 6 |  St George Illawarra Dragons Women's |
|---|---|---|
| Tries: Lavinia Gould (4')1 Raecene McGregor (16')1 Julia Robinson (39')1 Chelsea Lenarduzzi (42')1 Amber Pilley (49')1 Goals: Meg Ward5/6 (18', 33' pen, 41', 43', 50') | 1st: 10 – 0 2nd: 20 – 6 | Tries: 1 (51')Kezie Apps Goals: 1/1Maddie Studdon (52') |