| 2023 (2023) NRL Grand Final | |||||||||||||
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 Accor Stadium during the match | |||||||||||||
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| Date | 1 October 2023 | ||||||||||||
| Stadium | Accor Stadium | ||||||||||||
| Location | Sydney,New South Wales,Australia | ||||||||||||
| Clive Churchill Medal | Nathan Cleary (PEN) | ||||||||||||
| National Anthem | Tim Omaji | ||||||||||||
| Pre-Match Entertainment | Tina: The Tina Turner Musical,King Stingray | ||||||||||||
| Referee | Adam Gee | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 81,947 | ||||||||||||
| Broadcast partners | |||||||||||||
| Broadcasters | |||||||||||||
| Commentators | |||||||||||||
The2023 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the2023 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between thePenrith Panthers and theBrisbane Broncos on Sunday the 1st of October atAccor Stadium inSydney. Penrith, who were the two-time defending premiers and the defending minor premiers, won the match 26–24 to claim theirfifth premiership title, and became the first club in forty years to win three consecutive first-grade premierships, following theParramatta Eels'three-peat from1981 to1983. Panthers halfbackNathan Cleary, who scored the winning try for his team, was awarded his secondClive Churchill Medal for being judged as theman of the match. The match gained significant notability for featuring the largest comeback victory in grand final history, with the Panthers overcoming a 24–8 deficit after 56 minutes by scoring 18 unanswered points to ultimately win the match.[1]
The match was preceded by the 2023NRL State Championship and the2023 NRL Women's Grand Final. The match was broadcast live throughout Australia by theNine Network.
This was the first NRL grand final between thePenrith Panthers and theBrisbane Broncos, and the first to feature both aNew South Wales andQueensland based side since2005. Their last clash in a finals series was in2017, with the Broncos winning 13–6. The Panthers became the first side since theMelbourne Storm in 2009 to reach four consecutive grand finals, and were vying for their fifth premiership title after defeating theCanberra Raiders in1991,Sydney Roosters in2003,South Sydney Rabbitohs in2021 andParramatta Eels in2022. It wasIvan Cleary's fifth grand final appearance as a coach, with two prior losses (NZ Warriors v Manly 2011 and Penrith Panthers v Melbourne Storm 2020) and two prior wins coaching Penrith (v Souths 2021/Parramatta 2022) leading into the 2023 decider.[2]
The Broncos were aiming for their seventh premiership victory, their most recent being against theMelbourne Storm in2006. Their last grand final appearance was a defeat to theNorth Queensland Cowboys in2015. The match wasKevin Walters' first grand final appearance as a coach, becoming only the second person, after Wayne Bennett, to coach the Broncos to a grand final.[3]
The grand final was a highly anticipated match-up between the top two teams of the regular season, with both teams finishing the regular season with eighteen wins and six losses, and Panthers claiming the minor premiership with a far superior points differential.[4] Both teams also achieved dominant wins against the third-placed Melbourne Storm and fourth-placed New Zealand Warriors in their preceding qualifying and preliminary finals matches.[citation needed]
The2023 Penrith Panthers season was the 57th season inthe club's history. Coached byIvan Cleary and co-captained byNathan Cleary andIsaah Yeo, the club played their home games atBlueBet Stadium in Penrith.
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| QF | New Zealand Warriors (H) | 32–6 |
| SF | Bye | N/A |
| PF | Melbourne Storm (H) | 38–4 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
The2023 Brisbane Broncos season was the 36th inthe club's history. Coached byKevin Walters and captained byAdam Reynolds, the club were based at the Clive Berghofer Centre and played their matches atSuncorp Stadium. The season saw a club record membership tally of 40,207.[5][6]
| Round | Opposition | Score |
|---|---|---|
| QF | Melbourne Storm (H) | 26–0 |
| SF | Bye | N/A |
| PF | New Zealand Warriors (H) | 42–12 |
| Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) =Neutral venue | ||
Dylan Edwards,Stephen Crichton,Brian To'o,Jarome Luai,Nathan Cleary,James Fisher-Harris,Liam Martin,Moses Leota andIsaah Yeo made their fourth-straight grand final appearance for Penrith.[7]
The match was broadcast live on theNine Network in Australia and onSky Sport in New Zealand. Radio broadcasters includedABC,Triple M,2GB andSEN.[8]
Pre-match entertainment was headlined by the cast ofTina: The Tina Turner Musical, performing a compilation ofTina Turner's songs, including "Proud Mary", "Nutbush City Limits", and "Simply The Best", the latter of which is synonymous with rugby league after being the soundtrack to theWinfield Cup advertising campaign from 1989–1995.[9] The Australian national anthem was performed byTim Omaji.[10]
Co-headlining with the cast of the musical were Indigenous Australian rock bandKing Stingray, who also provided the soundtrack forFox League's 2023 Finals advertising campaign.[9][11]
Adam Gee refereed his first NRL grand final, with touch judges Chris Sutton and David Munro.Ashley Klein was the bunker official.[12]
Grand Final tickets went on sale in early August, with club allocations released following thePreliminary Finals on Monday, September 25. The game was officially sold out a day later. 81,947 people attended.[13]
Curtain-raiser matches on the day were theNRL State Championship between theBrisbane Tigers and theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs, andNRL Women's Grand Final between theNewcastle Knights and theGold Coast Titans. Both were shown live on theNine Network in Australia.[8]
Penrith Panthers | 26 – 24 |  Brisbane Broncos |
|---|---|---|
| Tries:4 Kenny  17'Leota 62'Crichton 67'Cleary 76'Goals:5 Crichton  18'(1/1)Cleary pen 29',63',68',78'(4/4) | 1st: 8–6 2nd: 18–18 Report | Tries:4 Flegler 38'Mam 44', 52', 54'Goals:4 Reynolds 39',45',53',56'(4/4) |
Accor Stadium,Sydney Attendance: 81,947 Referee:Adam Gee Video referee:Ashley Klein Touch judges: Chris Sutton, Dave Munro Clive Churchill Medal:Nathan Cleary (Penrith) |
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Both teams played aggressively in the opening exchanges, dominated by brutal hit-ups and tackles from the forwards. Penrith had the better share of the early possession and field position, courtesy of several handling errors by Brisbane players. However, due to strong Brisbane scramble defence on their own line, Penrith were unable to score any points until the 17th minute when an attempted short kick-off byAdam Reynolds was knocked back byHerbie Farnworth, and with no Broncos player in position to gather the loose ball, it bounced back towards the try line and was picked up byMitch Kenny to score the opening try of the match unmarked. Brisbane managed to find some field position and momentum, managing to score throughThomas Flegler in the dying seconds of the first half and leaving the score 8–6 at half-time.[14]
The second half started with a 10 minute hat-trick by Broncos five-eighthEzra Mam, which left the score at 24–8 in favour of the Broncos.[15] With Scott Sorensen (HIA) and star players Jarome Luai (shoulder) and Isaah Yeo (HIA) forced off the field due to injury, and staring at a 16 point deficit with only 20 minutes of the match remaining, the Panthers looked to be in an almost impossible situation.[16] However, in the 62nd minute, Penrith halfbackNathan Cleary forced a clean line-break on the Brisbane 40m line, fending off former teammateKurt Capewell and passing back inside toMoses Leota in support who scored under the goalposts. With the try converted, the score was left at 24–14 to the Broncos.[citation needed]
On the next set, the Penrith halfback kicked a 40/20 on the 3rd tackle. Whilst unable to directly capitalise, this provided field position for the Panthers. An error by Broncos lockPatrick Carrigan on the half-way line handed Penrith another opportunity in attacking field position. In the 67th minute, Nathan Cleary found a long pass to a rushing Stephen Crichton, catching the ball on the 10m line, placing a strong right-hand fend on the chest of opposing centreKotoni Staggs and powering his way through another two would-be defenders to roll over the try line. This was his fourth consecutive try in NRL Grand Finals, in his 100th and final game for the Panthers. With Cleary successfully converting from close to the side-line, the deficit had now been reduced to 24-20.[citation needed]
Brisbane continued to play their expansive style of football, withReece Walsh managing a line-break with 10 minutes to go. HoweverDylan Edwards, the Panthers fullback made a cover tackle on Walsh, stopping an almost certain try in the last line of defence. With a handover on their own 20m line, the Panthers found their way forwards to the Brisbane 40m line, where centreStephen Crichton placed a kick over the defence, findingReece Walsh out of position in defence and chasing his own kick to force Walsh back into the in-goal. On the drop-out, Reynolds' kick went out on the full, and Panthers elected to take the penalty tap.[17] The attacking set following ended with a grubber collected bySelwyn Cobbo, and Brisbane then managing to return the ball up to their own 40m line.
With five minutes remaining,Stephen Crichton forced yet another line drop-out with a precise grubber into the corner, andSunia Turuva tacklingKotoni Staggs back into the in-goal. This repeat set would prove decisive, where on the fifth play, dummy-halfMitch Kenny passed the ball on the short side to his co-captainNathan Cleary, who identified a tiring Broncos defence, stepping around four defenders and bursting through a last-ditch tackle fromReece Walsh to score the match-winning try with only two minutes remaining.[18][19]
After the conversion, the Broncos had one final set to win, in which they had to advance 82m. On the fourth tackle,Reece Walsh seemed to find space but was tackled byStephen Crichton. Walsh attempted to pass an offload, however the pass was taken byScott Sorensen, sealing the result for Penrith.[citation needed]
For his match-winning performance,Nathan Cleary was awarded theClive Churchill Medal, which he had previously won in 2021 also. His second-half efforts have also been described by commentators and fans alike to be the best solo grand final performance in history.[20] It was later revealed that Cleary suffered a knee injury in the tenth minute of play.[21]
The 16-point comeback achieved by thePenrith Panthers is the greatest in grand final history, surpassing a previous record held byMelbourne Storm since1999 (Melbourne's comeback from 14 points down against St George Illawarra) as the biggest-ever comeback in a grand final. The Panthers overturned a 24–8 deficit into a 26–24 final score in the final 20 minutes of the match.[citation needed]
As winners of the match, Penrith Panthers earned the right to play in theWorld Club Challenge against2023 Super League Grand Final winners.[citation needed]
The Panthers farewelled triple premiership winners and local juniorsStephen Crichton andSpencer Leniu, who departed for theCanterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs andSydney Roosters respectively. Bench five-eighthJack Cogger left for theNewcastle Knights after a single season at Penrith, while utility playerJaeman Salmon also left to join Crichton at the Bulldogs. While he did not feature in the 2023 Grand Final, he did win a premiership in 2022 with Penrith.[citation needed]
Twoopening matches were played on the ground prior to the grand final: theNRL State Championship andNRL Women's Grand Final. Both matches were broadcast live throughout Australia by theNine Network.[citation needed]
South Sydney Rabbitohs | 42–22 |  Brisbane Tigers |
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| 1st: 12–6 2nd: 30–16 |
Accor Stadium,Sydney Referee: Wyatt Raymond Bunker: Chris Butler Touch judges: Tyson Brough, Cameron Paddy |
Newcastle Knights | 24–18 |  Gold Coast Titans |
|---|---|---|
| 1st: 12–8 2nd: 12–10 |
Accor Stadium,Sydney Referee:Belinda Sharpe Bunker:Kasey Badger Touch judges: Rochelle Tamarua, Mitch Currie |
