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Sydney Roosters beat Brisbane Broncos 30-6 in the NRLW grand final at Accor Stadium, completing an unbeaten season and securing their third premiership. Tarryn Aiken won the Karyn Murphy medal as retiring greats Millie Elliott and Corban Baxter finished on a high.
Sydney Roosters have thrashed Brisbane Broncos 30-6 in the NRLW grand final at Accor Stadium, completing a perfect season and claiming their third premiership. The Tricolours led 26-0 at halftime after scoring six tries to none, the largest halftime advantage in NRLW decider history.
Roosters Seal Grand Final Glory
They finished with seven tries in total. It was the equal biggest winning margin in an NRLW grand final and gave retiring legends Corban Baxter and Millie Elliott the perfect send-off. Roosters halves Tarryn Aiken and Jocelyn Kelleher dominated, with Aiken awarded the Karyn Murphy medal. Winger Brydie Parker scored a hat-trick.
Aiken missed last year's decider with an ACL rupture but took control with her elite skillset, scoring a try and setting up two others in the opening half. Kelleher had worn the No.7 in last year's decider and blamed herself for the late Broncos try that secured Brisbane the 2025 grand final. She more than atoned.
The Roosters played ad-lib footy on the final tackle and Kelleher conjured an inch-perfect cross-field kick for Parker to score the opening try in the fourth minute. A scintillating scrum move involving Kelleher, Baxter and Aiken put captain Isabelle Kelly in. Aiken's next bomb was bungled by the Broncos and Jayme Fressard swooped. Aiken and Kelly sent Parker in for her second, barnstorming prop Amber Hall crashed over, and by halftime the game was in the bag.
Kelleher might have been the least recognised half on the field, behind Aiken and Brisbane's Ali Brigginshaw and Jesse Southwell, but she was the game's most influential player early. Her soaring bomb embarrassed Brisbane fullback Tamika Upton, who collided with winger Julia Robinson attempting to field the ball. Minutes later a Kelleher kick forced another error, and immediately afterwards Aiken put Kelly through for the Roosters' third try.
Aiken And Kelleher Drive Roosters
Aiken and Kelly combined again when the halfback kicked across field for Kelly, who offloaded to Fressard to score another marvellous four-pointer. Brigginshaw was lucky to stay on the field when she dived in on Aiken's standing leg during that play, an obvious sign of frustration in the 36-year-old's final game. By the end of the first half the Broncos had 25 per cent of possession and completed just three of 10 sets.
Run metres were 830 to 259 and tackle breaks 17 to six. After another Kelleher bomb, Olivia Kernick and Rima Butler picked up Upton and forced her back into the in-goal. The next set the Roosters were in again. A spread right found Kelly popping up on the opposite side, and she put Parker in for her acrobatic second.
Aiken then found Amber Hall with a short ball to make it 26-0. A miraculous try-saver from Upton at the start of the second half could not trigger a comeback, and Parker secured her hat-trick with 15 minutes to go. A try from Southwell in the 63rd minute, after Upton finally found space down the middle, was the only blemish on an otherwise immaculate day for the Roosters.
A late handling error from Brigginshaw, challenged unsuccessfully by the Broncos, was anything but a fairytale finish for the NRLW's greatest player. She was in tears at the end, embracing teammates and family. Brisbane, four-time premiership winners who had never previously lost a decider, bumbled and fumbled through the match in a sad end to Brigginshaw's stellar club career.
Retiring Legends And Historic Roosters Dominance
Roosters prop Elliott has now won five titles with three different clubs and will join fullback Baxter, now with two premierships, in NRLW retirement. Elliott said last year's grand final loss pushed the Roosters to greater heights. Everyone knows what that felt like and we definitely used that as motivation all season, not just in this game, all season, she said.
We worked so hard, I take my hat off to Strangey and the coaching staff, they really left no stone unturned this year and we wanted to put in a performance like that, she said. Last year the Tricolours were unbeaten until the decider, which the Broncos won 22-18 with a late and controversial try. That anomaly is the Roosters' only loss since August 2024.
The Roosters won all 11 regular season matches and their two finals this year, underscoring the dominance of John Strange's team in recent years. This was a footballing lesson in power, precision and skill, and the Roosters deserved their third premiership as clearly the best side in the competition. The result closes the gap on the four titles won by the Broncos, with the two most successful clubs in the NRLW's nine-year history now sharing seven premierships.
Jillaroos Selection And Final Celebration
Aiken and Kelleher outperformed Brigginshaw and the out-of-sorts Southwell to deliver a statement to Jillaroos selectors preparing to name the squad for the World Cup beginning later this month. But the Roosters' inspirational captain Kelly and their marauding pack were all brilliant as the Tricolours proved far too good. The opening stages were marred by errors from both sides, including two Roosters mistakes direct from kick-offs, but Kelly's side quickly rose to an occasion utterly missed by the Broncos.
This season was the best the competition has seen. Instead of a Brisbane celebration, it was the Roosters celebrating as the final siren rang out around a stadium by now half-full. The joy of victory was bittersweet for Elliott and Baxter, who hang up the boots while still at the top of their game.
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