NRL Grand Final 2025 teams: Melbourne Storm v Brisbane Broncos, analysis

We’re 30 weeks of rugby league down for 2025, with one to play…

Old rivals the Melbourne Storm and Brisbane Broncos go toe-to-toe in a repeat of the 2006 NRL grand final.

It’s littered with story lines, from Ben Hunt’s redemption a decade on from the infamous dropped ball, to the journey to coaching greatness for both Craig Bellamy and ‘giant-killer’ Madge Maguire.

It promises to be a spectacular decider, and in my eyes it’s pretty close to a coin toss job as to which of these attacking powerhouses will lift the trophy on Sunday evening.

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Perhaps the a slight lean towards the Storm with the best spine in rugby league, granted the Broncos isn’t too shabby itself…

It’s also the culmination of the NRL Supercoach finals season.

Unless you’re sitting pretty in the top 10 and are looking to play it safe to claim the title, it’s time to completely swing for the fences and go against the grain with some point of difference plays.

In NRL Supercoach finals, nobody cares if you’re 11th or 11,000th.

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Okay, that’s a bit harsh, 11th is an extremely impressive finish! But have some fun in the decider and look to make some serious moves.

Paul Alamoti was a super POD the past two weeks and topped the past fortnight by a big margin.

The Cooma Stallions had another solid week with 715 points to sit in 5,318th overall with my rank barely budging in prelim final week.

Targeting the weaker defensive edges has worked well throughout the finals campaign, which is what the brunt of the analysis below will focus on once again.

Let’s take a look at the Supercoach teams analysis for the NRL grand final.

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STORM v BRONCOS

Sunday, 7:30pm, Accor Stadium, Sydney

Storm: 1. Ryan Papenhuyzen 2. Will Warbrick 3. Jack Howarth 4. Nick Meaney 5. Xavier Coates 6. Cameron Munster 7. Jahrome Hughes 8. Stefano Utoikamanu 9. Harry Grant 10. Josh King 11. Shawn Blore 12. Eliesa Katoa 13. Trent Loiero

Bench: 14. Tyran Wishart 15. Ativalu Lisati 16. Tui Kamikamica 17. Alec MacDonald

Reserves: 18. Grant Anderson 19. Bronson Garlick 20. Joe Chan 21. Jonah Pezet 22. Sualauvi Faalogo

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Broncos: 1. Reece Walsh 2. Josiah Karapani 3. Kotoni Staggs 4. Gehamat Shibasaki 5. Deine Mariner 6. Ben Hunt 7. Adam Reynolds 8. Corey Jensen 9. Cory Paix 10. Payne Haas 11. Brendan Piakura 12. Jordan Riki 13. Pat Carrigan

Bench: 14. Ezra Mam 15. Kobe Hetherington 16. Xavier Willison 17. Tyson Smoothy

Reserves: 18. Jesse Arthars 19. Jack Gosiewski 20. Ben Talty 21. Selwyn Cobbo 22. Jock Madden

Analysis: The Broncos concede 41% of tries down either edge which doesn’t tell us too much, however the league eye test tells me that their left edge is the softer of the two.

Further, Ezra Mam has struggled at times in defence and he’ll come onto that edge at some point.

This brings into play Melbourne’s right edge of Jahrome Hughes, Eliesa Katoa, Jack Howarth and Will Warbrick.

I don’t particularly like the outside backs, but Hughes and Katoa become serious plays as the clear standouts in their respective positions.

Hughes scored 68 points on a 22-day return from a broken arm, getting through that clash will have done him the world of confidence.

Harry Grant could be the most locked selection of all-time at hooker.

The Storm concede 47% of tries down their right edge compared to 40% on their left.

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The right edge are clearly the weaker side, and I also expect Brisbane to send plenty at Hughes who is carrying that injury.

It matches up well for Brisbane with their dominant left edge scoring 52% of all tries compared to just 30% on the right.

This bodes well for Ben Hunt, Brendan Piakura, Gehamat Shibasaki and Josiah Karapani.

I don’t see Brisbane scoring through the middle third as such, I think the success will be on the flank of Karapani and Shibasaki.

Hunt played 80 minutes across five-eighth and hooker against Penrith and could be a sneaky alternative to Cam Munster who will be highly owned.

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Payne Haas played 80 minutes against Penrith and is also a lock and load.

Supercoaches will flock to Reece Walsh at fullback for entirely obvious reasons, but don’t discount Ryan Papenhuyzen.

Walsh is a strong chance to give up the goal-kicking to Adam Reynolds, and the Storm have a habit of shutting down superstars in big games.

Papenhuyzen looked excellent last week for his 56 points, falling just short of landing a few major attacking stats.

Walsh is rightly the obvious selection, but a Lil Papy flyer could pay off.