2022 NRL Grand Final

2022 (2022) NRL Grand Final ()
2022 NRL Grand Final
	Official logo for the match.
28	12
Date	2 October 2022
Stadium	Accor Stadium
Location	Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Clive Churchill Medal	Dylan Edwards
Advance Australia Fair	Alinta Chidzey
Pre Match Entertainment	Jimmy Barnes, Mahalia Barnes, Johnny Diesel, Josh Teskey, Emma Donovan, Bliss n Eso, Sheldon Riley
Referees	Ashley Klein, ; Phil Henderson (Touch Judge) ; Drew Oultram (Touch Judge)
Attendance	82,415
Broadcast partners
Broadcasters	Nine Network;
Commentators	Mathew Thompson; Cameron Smith; Andrew Johns; Brad Fittler; Danika Mason;
	NRL Grand Final ← 2021 2023 →

The 2022 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2022 National Rugby League season in Australia. It was contested between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels on Sunday the 2nd of October at Accor Stadium in Sydney.^[2] Penrith, who were both the defending premiers and minor premiers, won the match 28–12 to claim their fourth premiership title, and their first back-to-back premierships in the club's 56-year history. Panthers fullback Dylan Edwards was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal for being judged as the man of the match.

The match was preceded by the 2022 NRL State Championship and the 2022 NRL Women's Grand Final. The grand final was attended by 82,415 spectators, and was broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network.

Background

This was the first NRL grand final between the Penrith Panthers and the Parramatta Eels, and the second consecutive year that the grand final featured two Sydney-based clubs. The match-up between both clubs has long been regarded as the Western Sydney Derby, due to the long standing rivalry between the two clubs being closely located among Western Sydney. The Panthers, who became the first side since the Melbourne Storm in 2018 to reach three consecutive grand finals, were aiming for a fourth premiership, after defeating Canberra Raiders in 1991, Sydney Roosters in 2003 and South Sydney Rabbitohs in 2021. It was Ivan Cleary's fourth grand final appearance as a coach, after previously losing with the New Zealand Warriors against Manly Sea Eagles in 2011, and losing with Penrith against Melbourne Storm in 2020.^[3]

Meanwhile, the Eels were aiming for their fifth premiership victory; their most recent being against Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs in 1986. Their last grand final appearance was a defeat to the Melbourne Storm in 2009. It was Brad Arthur's first grand final appearance as a coach.^[4]

The Panthers finished the 2022 regular season in first place after twenty wins and four losses, of which two were against the Eels. Parramatta finished fourth after sixteen wins and eight losses.^[5]

Route to the final

Penrith Panthers

The 2022 Penrith Panthers season was the 56th season in the club's history. Coached by Ivan Cleary and co-captained by Nathan Cleary and Isaah Yeo, the Panthers are competing in the National Rugby League's 2022 Telstra Premiership.

Penrith Panthers' route to the final
Round	Opposition	Score
QF	Parramatta Eels (H)	27–8
SF	Bye
PF	South Sydney Rabbitohs (H)	32–12
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue

Parramatta Eels

The 2022 Parramatta Eels season was the 76th in the club's history. Coached by Brad Arthur and co-captained by Clinton Gutherson and Junior Paulo, they will compete in the NRL's 2022 Telstra Premiership.^[6] The season saw a club record membership tally of 34,264.^[7]

Parramatta Eels' route to the final
Round	Opposition	Score
QF	Penrith Panthers (A)	8–27
SF	Canberra Raiders (H)	40–4
PF	North Queensland Cowboys (A)	24–20
Key: (H) = Home venue; (A) = Away venue; (N) = Neutral venue

Pre-match

Team selection

Dylan Edwards, Stephen Crichton, Brian To'o, Jarome Luai, Nathan Cleary, Apisai Koroisau, James Fisher-Harris, Viliame Kikau, Liam Martin, Moses Leota and Isaah Yeo made their third-straight grand final appearance for Penrith, whilst Koroisau also played in the 2014 premiership decider for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Ryan Matterson and Bailey Simonsson were the only players for Parramatta to have played in prior grand finals; Matterson won for the Sydney Roosters in 2018, while Simonsson played for the Canberra Raiders in 2019.^[8]

Broadcasting

The match was broadcast live on the Nine Network and delayed on Fox League in Australia as well as on Sky Sport in New Zealand. Radio broadcasters included ABC, Triple M, 2GB, SEN and Koori Radio.^[9]

Entertainment

On 23 September 2022, the pre-match entertainment acts for the grand final were announced. This included Jimmy Barnes, Mahalia Barnes, A.Girl, Diesel, Josh Teskey, Emma Donovan, Sheldon Riley and Bliss n Eso. The Australian national anthem was performed by Alinta Chidzey.^[10]

Officiating

Ashley Klein refereed the match, his second NRL grand final. Grant Atkins was the senior review official, and Phil Henderson and Drew Oultram were the touch judges. Gerard Sutton was the standby referee and David Munro the standby touch judge.^[11]

Attendance

The 2022 Grand Final was the first since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to have no crowd restrictions. On 27 September 2022, the match was sold out.^[12]

Curtain-raiser matches

Curtain-raiser matches on the day were the NRL State Championship between the Norths Devils and the Penrith Panthers, and NRLW Grand Final between the Newcastle Knights and the Parramatta Eels. Both were shown live on the Nine Network in Australia.

Match

2022 NRL Grand Final

Sunday, 2 October
19:35 AEDT (UTC+11)

Penrith Panthers	28 – 12	Parramatta Eels
Tries: 5 To'o 18', 46' Crichton 11' Sorensen 28' Staines 59' Goals: 4 Cleary 13', 22 (pen)', 29', 61' (4/6)	1st: 18–0 2nd: 10–12 Report	Tries: 2 Gutherson 77' Arthur 78' Goals: 2 Moses 77', 79' (2/2)

Accor Stadium, Sydney
Attendance: 82,415
Referee: Ashley Klein
Bunker: Grant Atkins
Touch judges: Phil Henderson, Drew Oultram
Clive Churchill Medal: Dylan Edwards (Penrith)

Penrith Panthers

FB	1	Dylan Edwards
WG	2	Charlie Staines
CE	3	Izack Tago
CE	4	Stephen Crichton
WG	5	Brian To'o
FE	6	Jarome Luai
HB	7	Nathan Cleary
PR	8	Moses Leota
HK	14	Mitch Kenny
PR	10	James Fisher-Harris
SR	11	Viliame Kikau
SR	12	Liam Martin
LF	13	Isaah Yeo
Interchange:
IN	9	Apisai Koroisau
IN	15	Scott Sorensen
IN	16	Spencer Leniu
IN	17	Jaeman Salmon
CS	18	Sean O'Sullivan
Coach:
Ivan Cleary

Parramatta Eels

FB	1	Clinton Gutherson
WG	2	Maika Sivo
CE	3	Will Penisini
CE	4	Bailey Simonsson
WG	5	Waqa Blake
FE	6	Dylan Brown
HB	7	Mitchell Moses
PR	8	Reagan Campbell-Gillard
HK	9	Reed Mahoney
PR	10	Junior Paulo
SR	11	Shaun Lane
SR	12	Isaiah Papali'i
LF	17	Marata Niukore
Interchange:
IN	13	Ryan Matterson
IN	14	Nathan Brown
IN	15	Jake Arthur
IN	16	Oregon Kaufusi
CS	18	Bryce Cartwright
Coach:
Brad Arthur

Statistics

Statistic	Penrith Panthers	Parramatta Eels
Tries	5	2
Conversions	3	2
Penalty goals (attempts)	1 (1)	0 (0)
Field goals (attempts)	0 (0)	0 (0)
Possession
Possession	55%	45%
Total sets	44	36
Completed sets	38	25
Completion rate	86%	69%
Attacking
All runs	212	200
All run metres	2109	1581
Line breaks	7	3
Offloads	6	19
Defending
Kick metres	674	736
40/20	0	0
Tackles	154	227
Missed tackles	6	26
Goal line dropouts	0	3
Try saves	0	0
Discipline
Penalties conceded	5	5
Errors	7	12
Send offs	0	0
Sin bins	0	0
Reference: NRL Match Centre

Penrith Panthers:

Most runs: 28 – Dylan Edwards
Most running metres: 299 – Brian To'o
Most line breaks: 3 – Brian To'o
Most tackles: 45 – Liam Martin
Most missed tackles: 5 – Liam Martin
Most errors: 3 – Stephen Crichton

Parramatta Eels:

Most runs: 20 –
Most running metres: 167 – Clinton Gutherson
Most line breaks: 1 –
Most tackles: 56 – Reed Mahoney
Most missed tackles: 11 – Isaiah Papali'i
Most errors: 3 –
- Clinton Gutherson
- Waqa Blake

Post-match

Parramatta forward Ryan Matterson was charged by the match review with a grade one crusher tackle against Dylan Edwards.^[13] Matterson was criticised^[14] after taking an early guilty plea and electing to be suspended for three matches instead of taking a $4,000 fine.^[15] Matterson defended his decision telling reporters "I just feel that $4000 is pretty hefty considering I have already paid close to $4000 in fines this year for things that are absurd", with the forward also suggesting that the charge was not warranted.^[16]

Penrith players were criticised for their celebrations after their victory, with Sydney media identities outspoken against the way they celebrated.^[17] Jarome Luai came under scrutiny for a social media post that some found offensive. Former Penrith captain Greg Alexander and coach Ivan Cleary defended the players against the criticism.^[18]

Both grand final teams' players featured in squads selected for the 2021 Rugby League World Cup to be played in October–November 2022. Ten Panthers players were selected with the greatest representation (5) to play for Samoa. Parramatta had also had ten players selected, with the greatest representation (3) to play for New Zealand.

As premiership winners, Penrith earned the right to play in the World Club Challenge against 2022 Super League Grand Final winners St Helens. The match was played on 18 February 2023 at BlueBet Stadium.^[19]

Opening Matches

Two opening matches were played on the ground prior to the grand final: the NRL State Championship and NRL Women's Grand Final. Both matches were broadcast live throughout Australia by the Nine Network.