The 2017 NRL Grand Final will be played between the Melbourne Storm and the North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium on Sunday 1 October at 7:15pm AEDT.
For Queensland viewers it should be noted that the match will be played at 6:15pm AEST in their local time, as New South Wales moved to AEDT time earlier this morning.
The Storm qualified for the Grand Final after finishing on top of the ladder at the end of what was a dominant home-and-away season by them.
However, while they were on top for most of the home-and-away season, they have looked vulnerable particularly early in both of their finals.
Against the Parramatta Eels they ultimately only scraped by with a narrow victory in a game at AAMI Park where the Eels led for most of the game.
Their eventual victory over the Brisbane Broncs was a comfortable 30-0 win, but most of the damage was done in the second half after a tense start.
Both finals were won at AAMI Park in Melbourne, but they’ll have to travel to ANZ Stadium for the decider, as it is played there every year regardless of the teams participating.
The North Queensland Cowboys’ journey to the grand final could not have been more different from that of the Storm.
They finished eighth at the end of the home-and-away season, and would not have made finals at all had the St George Illawarra Dragons won on the final Sunday of the year.
However they then took a narrow extra-time win over the Cronulla Sharks in their first final to progress to a match against the Parramatta Eels.
A complete performance against the Eels saw them take that win comfortably and move into a preliminary final against the Sydney Roosters.
It was a tight match with plenty of lead changes against Sydney, but the Cowboys pulled away in the last ten minutes to get the win.
They’ve come remarkably far against all odds and will certainly enter the grand final with the belief they can surprise the NRL world yet again.
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