This was published 5 months ago
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And, that’s time.
What a night it has been, but all great things must come to an end, and that includes our live coverage for the day.
It’s been a blast, let’s do it all again next year.
Want to read all about the night? Here’s a selection of everything we have written today.
Reece Walsh has led a savage take-down of Melbourne Storm front-rower Stefano Utoikamanu, igniting a “Stefano’s stuck, we’re up” chant during the Broncos dressing room celebrations.
Utoikamanu lit the fuse at the start of the week when he admitted he did not like a number of Brisbane players, labelling them “stuck up”.
The front-rower’s words were being thrown back at him from inside the winning dressing room, with the Clive Churchill Medal winner Walsh filmed taunting Utoikamanu.
Walsh also posted a photo of himself pretending to be sad alongside the Provan Summons trophy with the caption “He stuck, we up” as well as a shrugging emoji.
What a match!
The tradition in rugby league grand finals – to determine who is the heavyweight ‘champeen’ of the year – is for said heavyweights to have a “softening up” period.
The expectation is that each side will stand toe-to-toe and throw a series of upper-cuts, right crosses and jabs, most of which will, of course, be countered. This is, after all, modern league.
They have “defensive systems” designed to block 120kg behemoths and tiny wingers alike. They already know what the best moves of their opponents are through endless study, and have counters prepared.
Broncos coach Michael Maguire jumps on the Channel Nine panel and has a bit to say.
“I’ve got a special group of players. They have been through everything,” he says.
Cam Smith: “Earlier in the year, there was a bit of criticism around your coaching, saying he’s too hard, he’s working them at training too hard. How did you get these guys to believe in what you wanted them to do at this club?”
Maguire: “Blah, blah, blah. I’ve been with other players and I knew if they stuck the course … I had belief when I first walked in. The hunger was in the belly.”
Phil Gould: “When people criticised you for training them too hard, can anyone tell me a team in history that didn’t train hard that won a comp?”
Been quite the year for Queensland sport.
Lights, camera, Reece Walsh. And action. And action. And action.
Put this movie in a time capsule and bury it. Send it to Mars with a poster of Walsh in case the future ever needs to know why this provincial little football code, this unscripted suburban drama, was the greatest game of all.
Two years ago, the Brisbane Broncos’ super trio Walsh, Payne Haas and Ezra Mam inspired one of the most thrilling rugby league grand finals ever played. This time, they did all that and won, too.
For most of this eye-popping match, it was difficult to keep in mind what the score even was. You couldn’t look away long enough to check what mattered most.
The grand final highlight reel that will be played for decades will feature plenty of Reece Walsh’s attacking brilliance.
But lost amid the razzle and dazzle of the NRL’s most exciting player will be three moments that will be remembered by those in the corridors of their Red Hill headquarters as the circuit breaker that ended a 19-year premiership drought.
The first came when Walsh put his body on the line and somehow inflicted enough force in his impact on the towering Tui Kamikamica to jolt the ball free of his grip with the try line beckoning.
The incident occurred just three minutes into the second half. The Broncos were trailing 22-12. Adam Reynolds had made a mistake that gifted the Melbourne Storm some great field position.