The Sydney Roosters ruined the farewell of NRLW great Ali Brigginshaw by blitzing the Brisbane Broncos in the grand final as the Tricolours completed their perfect season with a 30-6 victory clinched by a six-tries-to-none first half.
The Roosters’ third premiership closes the gap on the four won by the Broncos, with the two most successful clubs in the NRLW’s nine-year history now sharing seven titles. But this season was the best the competition has seen, after the Roosters won all 11 regular season matches and their two finals.
Sunday’s win in glorious afternoon sunshine at Accor Stadium corrected the blip of last season’s decider, when the Broncos upset the Roosters. That anomaly is the Tricolours’ only loss since August 2024, underscoring the dominance of John Strange’s team in recent years.
Retiring Roosters forward Millie Elliott said that result pushed them to even 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. “And 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.”
Roosters halves Tarryn Aiken – who was awarded the Karyn Murphy medal – and Jocelyn Kelleher outperformed Brigginshaw and the out-of-sorts Jesse 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 Isabelle 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. A fourth-minute try was a marvel of keeping the ball alive as winger Jayme Fressard found Kelleher, whose pinpoint cross-field kick looped over opposite winger Kerri Johnson for Brydie Parker to catch and score.
Kelleher might have been the least recognised half on the field, behind her teammate Aiken and the Broncos’ pair of Brigginshaw and Southwell, but she was the game’s most influential player in the early stages. Her soaring bomb embarrassed Brisbane fullback Tamika Upton, who collided with her winger Julia Robinson in her attempt to field the ball.
The Broncos escaped the ensuing set, but found themselves even further behind soon after when Aiken was fortunate in having her grubber rebound off Johnson back into her hands. Minutes later, a Kelleher kick forced another error from the Broncos, and immediately afterwards Aiken put captain Kelly through for the Roosters’ third try. Aiken and Kelly combined again not long after, when the halfback kicked across the field for Kelly, who quickly 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 in that play, an obvious sign of frustration in the 36-year-old’s final game. This afternoon should have been a celebration of Brigginshaw’s career, but her Broncos imploded. By the end of the first half they had 25% of possession and completed just three of 10 sets. Run metres were 830 to 259, tackle breaks 17 to six.
There was simply no relief for the Broncos. 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 – who put Parker in for her acrobatic second. Aiken then found Amber Hall with a short ball to make the half-time score 26-0.
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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 some 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 her teammates and family.
Instead, it was the Roosters celebrating as the final siren rang out around a stadium by now half-full, the joy of victory bittersweet for Elliott and fullback Corban Baxter, who hang up the boots while still at the top of their game.
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