Upton becomes first NRLW player to win five premierships as Broncos end Roosters’ run

Broncos fullback Tamika Upton stands tall as the most successful player in NRLW history after her side scored a 22-18 win over the Roosters in the grand final at Accor Stadium on Sunday.

After being undefeated all season, the Roosters weren’t able to get the job done when it mattered most on a day when temperatures topped 30 degrees.

The Broncos ended the Tricolours’ 18-match winning streak to claim their first premiership since 2020.

Upton, the 2025 Dally M medal winner, now boasts a five-from-five record in NRLW grand finals.

It was Upton who scored the Broncos’ first try of the afternoon, slicing her way through the Roosters from a scrum play after 17 minutes.

The final five minutes of the match were chaos and carnage, as Isabelle Kelly, Keeley Davis and Rima Butler all went down injured but persevered for the Tricolours – Davis with her eye closing up from an earlier knock, Butler with a tennis ball-sized egg on her face following a head clash with Olivia Kernick.

But with a premiership on the line, and the Roosters battered and bruised, it was Broncos centre Mele Hufanga – who had been dangerous all afternoon – that barged across to score the match-winner for Brisbane.

Hufanga was awarded for her heroics with the Karyn Murphy medal – the player of the match – finishing the game with 199 run metres, two line breaks, a try and a line-break assist.

However, Roosters coach John Strange wasn’t convinced the ball hit the turf for Hufanga’s try.

“There’s probably a bit of guess work. [Referee] Belinda [Sharpe] was always going to send it up as a try, and then it’s probably maybe hard to overturn,” Strange said.

“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask them, but it doesn’t change how I feel and the mindset of what the girls did out there ... It is what it is, the decision was made on the run, and then they had a look at it. The girls in there said they had their hands under the ball, so it didn’t touch.”

As veteran skipper Ali Brigginshaw came from the field in the final 30 seconds following a head knock, she was cheered off like a champion, before storming the field again as a brawl erupted at full-time with tensions running high.

Broncos centre Julia Robinson was left bloodied after she and Aliyah Nasio threw punches on the siren.

Brisbane coach Scott Prince, who said today’s victory was “better” than the 2005 grand final he won with the Tigers, was unimpressed with the fight at full-time.

“It’s not ideal from our point of view,” Prince said.

“There’s no place in the game for that. I’m sure the NRL will take care of it.”

For Brisbane edge forward Romy Teitzel, victory was a relief.

“There were so many moments in that match, it was so tough. The Roosters have been the best side in the competition and we said we need to be better,” Teitzel said.

“We spoke about how much it meant to hold the trophy. We had a great game plan, but it fell away in this heat, we said we want to do this, and we did.”

It was never going to be easy for the Roosters to go back-to-back after winning the 2024 grand final.

When they lost halfback Tarryn Aiken – last year’s Karyn Murphy Medal winner – in the final match of the regular season to an ACL injury, the Roosters were forced to adjust for the finals.

Corban Baxter was moved into the halves, with Brydie Parker shifted to fullback.

But after Parker went off for a head injury assessment, and the Roosters went to the sheds at half-time down 12-0, coach John Strange again shuffled the deck.

Baxter was moved to fullback once more, with Parker pushed to five-eighth. It ended up being a masterstroke from the Dally M coach of the year, as Parker burnt the Broncos defence to score the Roosters’ first try after 45 minutes.

Eliza Lopamaua and Mia Wood went back-to-back to give the Roosters the lead for the first time that afternoon, but the Broncos weren’t going down without a fight.

Shalom Sauaso scored in the 60th minute to keep Brisbane in the game, and they trailed by two after Romy Teitzel shanked the conversion, before Hufanga charged across to hand the Broncos their fourth NRLW premiership.