The 2019 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2019 National Rugby League season and was played at Sydney's ANZ Stadium. The match was contested between defending premiers the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Raiders. The match was won by the Sydney Roosters 14–8 in a tight contest to claim their 15th premiership title, making them the first club in 26 years to win consecutive premierships in a unified competition since the Brisbane Broncos in 1993, and the first Sydney Roosters side to win consecutive titles since 1975. The Clive Churchill Medal was awarded to Raiders five-eighth Jack Wighton as the game's man of the match.
The game is one of the most controversial grand finals, infamous for a reversed "six again" decision by referee Ben Cummins which preceded the winning try.
Background
Sydney finished second on the premiership ladder with a record of 17–7. The club comfortably defeated South Sydney 30–6 to qualify for the preliminary final, then defeated minor premiers Melbourne 14–6 in the preliminary final to qualify for the grand final. Having won the 2018 premiership, the Roosters were aiming to win back-to-back premierships, and become the first team since the Brisbane Broncos in the 1992-93 NSWRL to do so in a unified competition. Trent Robinson coached the side to its third grand final in his seventh year coaching the Roosters.
Canberra finished fourth on the premiership ladder with a 15–9 record. The club won through to the grand final with a 12–10 win over Melbourne in the qualifying final, then a 16–10 win over South Sydney in the preliminary final. It was the club's first grand final appearance since 1994, breaking the longest drought of appearances in club history. Raiders coach Ricky Stuart was coaching his first grand final for Canberra in his sixth year with the club; it was his fourth grand final as a coach overall, having led the Roosters to the game in 2002, 2003 and 2004.
It was the first time the Sydney Roosters and the Canberra Raiders contested a Grand Final. The sides faced each other twice during the season, with the Roosters winning both games: a 30–24 win in round 9 on the neutral Suncorp Stadium during Magic Round, and a 22–18 win at GIO Stadium in round 21.
Teams
Brett Morris, Sam Verrills, Angus Crichton, Nat Butcher were the only new additions to the Roosters' grand final winning squad from the previous year. For the Canberra Raiders, all but one of their players played in their first NRL grand final, with centre Joseph Leilua having played for the Roosters in the 2010 Premiership decider; their second-row forward John Bateman had their most first grade grand final experience, having played in four Super League grand finals for the Wigan Warriors.
Sydney Roosters halfback Cooper Cronk was playing his 372nd and final game(323 of which were for the Melbourne Storm), retiring as the second most-capped NRL player in the competition's history. The match was his ninth first grade grand final, making him the first player since Ron Coote in 1975 to reach that mark; only Norm Provan and Brian Clay had played in more grand finals, with ten apiece. Having won premierships with Melbourne in 2017 and Sydney in 2018 and 2019, he became the first player since nine members of the Parramatta Eels 1981–83 teams to be involved in three straight premiership victories.
Officials
The officiating team, comprising two referees, two touch judges, two review officials and a stand-by in each position is given below. All four on-field officials, Ben Cummins, Gerard Sutton, Nick Beashel and Chris Butler, had officiated in previous NRL grand finals.
Numbers in brackets represent the number of grand finals officiated, including 2019.