2018 NRL grand final: Your ultimate preview to the big day

After 192 regular season matches, the distribution of 1,152 Dally M Medal votes and eight finals matches, we are down to the final two teams.

The Sydney Roosters and Melbourne Storm, the two best defensive teams of this season, are left to fight it out for the NRL premiership this Sunday evening.

While both sides have been the most consistent clubs since the NRL was formed in 1998, with all but five grand finals since 1998 featuring either side, this will be the first time the two clubs have met in the showpiece match.

For the second consecutive season, the Roosters and Storm finished as the top two sides in the competition, with the Chooks taking advantage of a final-round slip up by the Storm to take out their fourth minor premiership in six years.

After the Storm had lost to Penrith at home the previous night, all the Roosters needed to do was beat the last-placed Eels by a certain margin to claim the minor premiership, and they did that by winning with a scoreline of 44-10.

They then scored impressive victories over the Sharks and Rabbitohs by 21-12 and 12-4 respectively, with defence the forefront of the latter win as they were able to keep the Bunnies, the highest-scoring team in the competition, to just two penalty goals.

But while halfback Cooper Cronk remains in serious doubt after suffering a shoulder injury in the win over the Rabbitohs, they’ll be boosted by the return of Latrell Mitchell and Dylan Napa from suspension.

Cooper Cronk injured his shoulder in the prelim. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

His courage to play on in the second half mirrored that of Johnathan Thurston’s bravery in the second game of the 2017 State of Origin series, whereby despite his clear discomfort, he was able to play on and kick a crucial, match-winning conversion to force a deciding match, which the Maroons would ultimately win in his absence.

Similarly, if Cronk is ruled out of the showdown against his former club, the Chooks have their Plan B – with Luke Keary and Mitchell Aubusson named in the halves. Cronk has been named as a reserve in the event that he is, somehow, passed fit.

He and James Tedesco were brought to the club as they sought to overcome their finals demons, which had seen them lose three preliminary finals in 2014, 2015 and 2017 to the Rabbitohs, Broncos and Cowboys respectively. This followed their premiership success in 2013, from which only Boyd Cordner, Daniel Tupou, Jake Friend and Mitchell Aubusson remain.

While the former Maroons halfback has been given until kick-off to prove his fitness, coach Trent Robinson believes that even without him, his side can still get the job done, though they will have to overcome a Storm side keen to send their champion fullback Billy Slater out a winner.

The 35-year-old was successful in beating a shoulder charge in a marathon tribunal hearing that lasted nearly three hours, including the time it took to reach a verdict.

Slater had argued that his intention was to attempt to tackle Sharks winger Sosaia Feki in a “ball-in-all” tackle, rather than to shoulder-charge him, as many saw it at the time of the incident.

Now, the two-time Clive Churchill Medallist will get the chance to bow out of the game on the highest note possible, which if he does would see him follow in the footsteps of the likes of Glenn Lazarus, Shane Webcke and Michael Ennis, who each won premierships in their final NRL matches in 1999, 2006 and 2016 respectively.

It was also something that eluded Justin Hodges, who like Slater was cleared to take his place in the Brisbane Broncos side which lost the 2015 grand final to the North Queensland Cowboys after being found not guilty of a dangerous throw on Rooster Aidan Guerra.

There is speculation that captain Cameron Smith could also retire if the Storm take out their fourth legitimate premiership and in the process become the first club since the Brisbane Broncos in 1992-93 to win back-to-back flags in a unified competition.

Now that you’ve got the info, it’s time to crunch all the important numbers below.

Billy Slater and Cameron Smith (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

Sydney Roosters vs Melbourne Storm
Sunday, September 30
7:20pm
ANZ Stadium, Sydney

This season: Storm 9 defeated Roosters 8 at Adelaide Oval in round sixteen.

Last meeting in a finals match: Storm 20-18 at Allianz Stadium in the first qualifying final, 2015.

The stats that matter
* This is the Roosters’ 30th Grand Final, while for the Storm this is their ninth. They are going for their 14th and third premierships respectively.
* While this is the 15th time in the past two decades that these two teams have featured in the grand final, this will be their first meeting against each other in the showpiece match.
* No team has managed to successfully defend their premiership in a unified competition since the Brisbane Broncos did so in 1992-93. The Broncos had won in 1997 and 1998, but those premierships were won in separate competitions.
* With a win this Sunday, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith will have featured in five Melbourne Storm winning sides, but it would be their third legitimate premiership win each, after their 2007 and 2009 premierships were stripped due to salary cap breaches.
* From the Roosters’ 2013 premiership, only Boyd Cordner, Daniel Tupou, Jake Friend and Mitchell Aubusson remain. All four are going for their second premiership ring, while Cronk will be going for his third premiership ring to go with the wins he enjoyed as part of the Storm sides that were victorious in 2012 and 2017.

Boyd Cordner (R) of the Roosters (Photo by Mark Kolbe/Getty Images)

And something random….
* If the Storm win, September 30 will go down as a special day in the club’s history, having defeated the Bulldogs on this day to win its second legitimate premiership in 2012. They had also beaten the Sea Eagles on this day to win the 2007 title, but it was later annulled due to salary cap breaches.

Predictions
Match: Storm by two points.
First try: Billy Slater (Storm), Blake Ferguson (Roosters)
Clive Churchill Medal: Billy Slater (if the Storm win), James Tedesco (if the Roosters win).

It will also be a huge day for the Sydney Roosters, whose women’s side will feature in the inaugural NRL Women’s decider earlier in the day when they face a Brisbane Broncos side that has clearly set the standard in the short competition.

After dropping their first two matches as they struggled to adapt to pre-tournament expectations, the Adam Hartigan-coached side Bradburied their way into the decider with a 26-0 thrashing of the St George Illawarra Dragons, with winger Taleena Simon scoring four tries, three of them in the first ten minutes.

In their two matches prior, they could only manage one try in each, both scored by New South Wales centre Isabelle Kelly.

If the three weeks of regular competition are anything to go by, then the Roosters will have their work cut out against a Broncos side which won all three of their matches quite convincingly, the smallest margin a 14-4 win over the Chooks in round two.

Having benefited from a trial match against the Papua New Guinea Orchids played as a curtain-raiser to the men’s side’s clash against the Sea Eagles, the Broncos, in their only home match of the season, thumped the Dragons by 30-4 and also put a record score on the Warriors (32-10) on either side of that aforementioned win over the Roosters.

As you’d expect, the Broncos built their side by recruiting as many players from Queensland as they possibly could, but ended up missing out on winger Karina Brown and halfback Zehara Tamara, who in a twist of fate will line up for the Roosters against most of their Origin teammates.

In the absence of halfback Caitlin Moran, who suffered the dreaded ACL injury in May ruling her out of the competition, Ali Brigginshaw has impressed in this position as well as in her role as captain, with Brittany Breayley serving as her deputy.

The clash between the Broncos and Roosters comes 18 years after their men’s sides met in the 2000 decider, in what was the first Grand Final for either side at the Olympic Stadium which was to be used for the Sydney Olympics that year.

Whoever is judged best afield will receive the Karyn Murphy Medal.

NRL Women’s Premiership Grand Final
Brisbane Broncos vs Sydney Roosters
Sunday, September 30
1:35pm
ANZ Stadium, Sydney

This season: Broncos 14 defeated Roosters 4 at Allianz Stadium in round two.

Prediction: Broncos by eight points.