Five Greatest NRL Grand Finals

The 2025 NRL Grand Final has all the ingredients to be a classic, but some of the great games of the past will take some beating.

Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos will clash at Accor Stadium on Sunday and the excitement and anticipation ahead of the game is almost off the scale.

The Grand Final rarely disappoints and there have been some incredible moments over the years.

Some have gone down as the greatest in Australian sporting history, not just the NRL.

The two best sides of the NRL season meet in a one-off match to decide the premiership, and there is always fireworks.

There has been blood, sweat, tears, remarkable fightbacks and golden-point field goals during the NRL era, which began in 1998.

There have many classics to choose from, but here is our rundown of the five greatest NRL Finals ever played.

5. Newcastle Knights 30-24 Parramatta Eels (2001)

Parramatta were the hot fancies heading into the 2001 Grand Final after sweeping all before them in the regular season.

The Eels had scored most points and tries in a season, and were expected to give the Knights a lesson.

But led by the inspirational Andrew Johns, the Knights stunned the Eels to lead 24-0 at half-time.

The Eels were not done and pulled off a remarkable fightback from 30-6 down to get within a converted try at 30-24 before the final siren sounded.

4. Cronulla Sharks 14-12 Melbourne Storm (2016)

Cronulla Sharks were still looking for their first premiership when they took on the might of the Melbourne Storm in 2016.

Blessed with Billy Slater, Cooper Cronk and Cameron Smith in their ranks, the Storm were the team to beat.

The Sharks led 8-0 at the break before the Storm game fighting back to take the lead with two tries.

However Cronulla refused to give up and an Andrew Fifita try got them back in front. The last 10 minutes were frantic but the Sharks repelled the Storm to win by two points.

3. Melbourne Storm 20-18 St George Illawarra Dragons (1999)

Melbourne Storm embarked on their second season as a club in 1999, and not many gave them much hope of doing anything special.

But they proved all the doubters wrong just by making the Grand Final, only to go one better by upsetting the Dragons.

It went down as one of the greatest fightbacks in Grand Final history, as they clawed back a 14-0 deficit to stun the joint venture.

It turned out to be the first premiership of many for one of the NRL's great clubs.

2. North Queensland Cowboys 17-16 Brisbane Broncos (2015)

The first ever all-Queensland Grand Final went beyond expectations and goes down as one of the best ever.

The Broncos had victory in their grasp until a late try by Kyle Feldt levelled the scores at 16-16, leaving Johnathan Thurston with a conversion to win the game.

Thurston’s effort struck the post meaning the grand final was going to golden-point extra-time for the first time.

Thurston redeemed himself by slotting a field goal after Broncos star Ben Hunt knocked on, and the Cowboys rejoiced.

1. Penrith Panthers 26-24 Brisbane Broncos (2023)

The Thurston field goal would take some beating for drama, but Penrith win the prize for the best ever Grand Final win.

The Panthers were out to make history by claiming their third premiership on the bounce, and just the Broncos stood in their way.

Brisbane looked set to spoil the party as they opened up a 24-8 lead in the second half and the Panthers looked dead and buried.

However the Panthers had a side full of champions, including Nathan Cleary, who grabbed the game by the scruff of neck before turning it on its head.

With 25 minutes left on the clock, Penrith pulled off the most remarkable comeback in Grand Final history.

And Cleary was the man to seal the win with a stunning 76th-minute try, skipping past four Broncos players.