Tallon Smith

Previously, my favourite NRL Grand Final moment was the Sharks’ 2016 triumph over the Storm.

However, on Sunday, thanks to a winning entry in the Sydney Morning Herald’s competition on the topic of your favourite Grand Final moment, I attended my first live NRL Grand Final, and a contest for the ages changed that.

The Broncos, so long a sleeping giant of the game, finally awoke from their 19-year slumber to deliver an NRL-NRLW double to their massive fanbase, plenty of whom packed the stands of Accor Stadium.

And the best part was, I got to witness such greatness live.

As a Riverina-based small-time sports journo who travels thousands of kilometres each year covering grassroots rugby league for my own platform, all in addition to studying full-time at university hours away in Wollongong, the phone call to say I was going to the ‘Big Dance’ was like Christmas.

In the words of the Eighth Immortal, it was “better than lego”.

I’m not a Broncos fan, a Storm fan, or a Sharks fan for that matter. I’m a Rabbitoh, dyed in the red and green wool.

And this is not the first time I have won tickets to a major rugby league match through a writing competition; however, and the juxtaposition between the two games could not have been greater.

The first time was when I won tickets through a brewery to the opening game of the 2024 State of Origin series at Accor Stadium.

In a typical father-son pre-game discussion with my Dad, who introduced me to this East Coast obsession called rugby league, he said that for New South Wales to win, the Blues would need to find a way to nullify Reece Walsh’s impact on the game.

However, I’m sure the way Joseph Sua’ali’i did that just seven minutes into the contest was not what Dad had envisioned, and with the Blues reduced to 12-men following his high shot on the Maroons fullback, Queensland won 38-10.

This time, however, could not have been any more different.

This time, Walsh was the star of the show.

A dazzling try, two genuine try-saving tackles, three try assists, 14 tackle breaks, 176 metres gained; it was unlike anything I had ever seen, and I’m sure many felt the same.

The performance from the Nerang Roosters junior was truly out of this world.

Walsh washed Brisbane’s 19-year drought away to the delight of thousands of the Broncos’ faithful, celebrating with a XXXX from a miniature toilet as only the “Plumber” could.

But the highlight of my day had to be meeting some of the people that make the rugby league journalism world turn.

Shaking hands with some of my favourite Herald writers, who are a source of inspiration to me in my studies and my own work, as well as two of my heroes growing up in Paul Gallen and Darren Lockyer, the two Origin captains from when I first started watching the game in 2011, was awe-inspiring.

It was an experience I will never forget, one that a couple of good sentences and a bit of luck afforded me to create memories that will last a lifetime.

The season is over now, and like all footy fanatics, I will have to find something else to watch four nights a week for the next five months.

Or maybe, I’ll just re-watch Brisbane’s triumph in the Grand Final of 2025, my new favourite moment in rugby league.