Relive 1 NEWS NOW's live updates of the NRL Grand Final between the Melbourne Storm and the Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium in Sydney.
FT: SYD 21-6 MEL
The hooter goes and the Roosters are embracing. Cronk is collapsed on the side of the pitch and you can't blame him. The main couldn't give more than what he did tonight. A superb defensive performance from the Roosters kept the Storm at bay and the Storm's errors ruined their chances. Munster will have a long, long off season to think about this game. Between his two sin binnings and brain explosion on the left wing, he won't soon forget tonight as much as he will want to. That does it for us tonight. Good evening.
79min: SYD 21-6 MEL
SYD TWO! Mitchell adds the free two and the party is starting already.
78min: SYD 19-6 MEL
MEL SIN BIN! MUNSTER'S IN THE BIN AGAIN! Purely frustraion and a dumb moment from him. Makes a tackle then lightly kicks the tackled man as he gets up. Silly stuff. That does it.
77min: SYD 19-6 MEL
Roosters chewing up the clock now. Slow play-the-balls. Deep kicks on the last. Everything you want to wrap up a title.
74min: SYD 19-6 MEL
And the defence gets it done again for the Roosters. Storm look to attack on the left edge but Manu makes a great tackle and forces a knock on! That could do it.
73min: SYD 19-6 MEL
Storm are throwing the kitchen sink at it now! Roosters have been penalised three times in a row here. Ref calls in Cordner and tells him enough is enough. Storm new set 10m short.
71min: SYD 19-6 MEL
Keary smacks a grubber into touch to kill the clock after the restart. Storm scrum on their 10m.
69min: SYD 19-6 MEL
SYD FIELD GOAL! Sure enough, Roosters go for the one. Clever play from Cronk. He's setting up like he's taking it. Then orders the ball to Keary on the blindside and Keary gets it off unmarked. Brilliant leadership.
67min: SYD 18-6 MEL
Keary goes high on the last and it's another stunner. Vunivalu tries to take it but he's lost the ball! That's the third knock-on from kicks by the Storm tonight. 25m scrum to the Roosters. Drop out?
64min: SYD 18-6 MEL
Storm are looking positive with a strong set after the kickoff but Munster coughs the ball up again on halfway. Roosters with a chance to reply now.
63min: SYD 18-6 MEL
MEL TRY! Storm are finally on the board! Addo-Carr gets Melbourne on the board with an intercept on his 10m line and he's untouchable from there. Is this the spark the Storm needed?
60min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Into the final quarter of the game and Roosters will start it with a penalty after the Storm are pinged for a head-high tackle. Roosters ball on halfway.
57min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Storm look destined to score with a three-on-one on the left edge and 10m to go but Munster tries to run it himself and gets stopped by Manu who even pulls off a strip! Brain explosion from Munster there. How could he not pass that? Roosters with a seven tackle set starting on their 10m.
55min: SYD 18-0 MEL
MEL NO TRY! Munster darts through a gaping hole to score but the Bunker shows Asofa-Solomona took out Cronk with a decoy run. That's an obstruction so it's a penalty. Ironically, Cronk probably doesn't make that tackle and Munster scores anyway. Hindsight's a beauty, isn't it?
53min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Munster grubbers again on the last. Manu makes a play to stop the ball but knocks it on. Storm get their third straight set. Scrum 10m out.
51min: SYD 18-0 MEL
SYD DROPOUT! Slater makes a break in the midfield and gets stopped by Tupou but not before he offloads to Smith, Smith fires it to Munster wh ogrubbers for the corner. Vunivalu gives chase but Tedesco is there to kill the ball. Still, positive play at last from the Storm.
49min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Munster goes for the right corner with his kick on the last tackle but he's overcooked it. 20m restart with a seven tackle set for the Roosters.
47min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Roosters make 57m on the set after pinning the Storm down again. Keary lofts one to the right corner and Munster gets to it. He's tackled inches outside of his line. How do the Storm respond? Just 28m on their set. This defence from the Roosters has been something else tonight...
44min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Roosters attack down the right wing and Ferguson is one-on-one with Munster with 10m to go. He goes for the line but Munster does enough to get Ferguson's foot on the line. No try but it's all happening in the Storm's half still.
41min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Storm get an early penalty after there's a crusher tackle on Bromwich. New set on halfway.
40min: SYD 18-0 MEL
Roosters get us going again. 40 minutes from a title or will the Storm pull off one of the greatest comebacks in recent history.
HT: SYD 18-0 MEL
40 minutes in the books and not many would have seen this coming. Roosters are playing sensational, tactical footy tonight and the Storm haven't got an answer so far. Cronk isn't influencing with ball in hand but his command as a leader and his intructions are certainly making a huge difference. The defence the Roosters have had to constantly pin the Storm in their half is what's making the difference. Don't go anywhere. We'll be back soon with the second half.
38min: SYD 18-0 MEL
SYD TRY! Quick hands from Tedesco and the Roosters finds the numbers on the right edge. Manu dives for the right corner and he's in with ease. Great feed from Teddy there. This is turning into a blowout.
35min: SYD 14-0 MEL
Nothing is going the Storm's way. Smith puts up a great kick on the last after the Storm survive defending on their line but a wicked bounce sends the ball shooting to the Roosters' goal. It goes dead. So that's a 20m restart and a seven-tackle set.
33min: SYD 14-0 MEL
MEL DROPOUT! Sydney go the length of the field after attacking on the right edge and Keary grubbers on the last. Addo-Carr swats it dead. Pressure building.
31min: SYD 14-0 MEL
SYD TWO! Mitchell steps up from 30m out in front and slots the penalty. This is a big final nine minutes to this half. Storm MUST shut up shop here - with a man down.
30min: SYD 12-0 MEL
MEL SIN BIN! What a turn of events. Asofa-Solomona drops the ball cold on the Roosters' 30m and it's scooped up by Friend. He pins his ears back and sprints away into the backfield as Munster comes across to stop him. He then deliberately stops the play the ball and gets sent off for a professional foul. Big moment in the game.
29min: SYD 12-0 MEL
AGAIN the Roosters are penalised early in the Storm's set. Once again, they've held Slater down too long. Kick for touch means Storm will start on their 40m.
27min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Chambers coughs the ball up metres from the line and makes matters worse when he's penalised for a head-high seconds later. He'll want to forget this last five minutes quickly. Roosters find touch with the penalty and get a new set on their 40m.
26min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Storm earn another penalty as Slater is held down for too long. New set on halfway. Need to convert on one of these to get back in the match here.
25min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Mitchell lines up Chambers as the Storm look to attack on the right edge and smokes him into touch. It sparks a scuffle between the two Origin rivals but nothing in it. Roosters restart on their 10m.
23min: SYD 12-0 MEL
SYD DROPOUT! Croft grubbers one through and Mitchell has to swat it dead. Best set from Storm so far tonight. Stretched the Roosters' defence but no chink yet.
22min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Storm survive the set after the scrum and then get some momentum when Mitchell is ruled offside. Storm kick for touch and get a new set 20m from Sydney's line.
20min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Another Storm error! Kaufusi coughs the ball up cold on halfway in contact. Roosters scrum. Storm are playing some uncharacteristic footy right now.
19min: SYD 12-0 MEL
SYD NO TRY! Keary goes high o nthe last. It floats towards the right sideline. Ferguson goes up for it, smacks it back in play. Roosters recover and go for the line but the ball spews out. Bunker shows Ferguson was out when he went for the ball anyway so don't even need to check the grounding.
18min: SYD 12-0 MEL
Roosters make 47m and go to Keary on the last. High ball taken in by Slater and he's wrapped up inside his 10m. Storm can only make 36m on the set and Tedesco brings back Munster's kick to 25m from his own line. Roosters have had 70 per cent of the possession so far.
16min: SYD 12-0 MEL
SYD TRY! Quick ball down to that lethal left side and it's a 3-on-2. Mitchell steps inside his man and dives over to score. Converts his own try. Tri colours are on fire.
14min: SYD 6-0 MEL
Another error! Once again, Cronk gets it on the last and he goes high. He's smoked by Smith but the kick is another beauty and this time it's Slater who couldn't control it. Roosters recover and it's six more 5m out.
12min: SYD 6-0 MEL
Storm finally get some breathing room as Vunivalu soars for a catch and gets taken out in the air. The penalty goes into touch and the Storm get a fresh set on their 40m.
11min: SYD 6-0 MEL
The Roosters defence is just impecable right now! Storm are pinned to 30m again on their first set off the kick off. They try to clear but Tedesco brings it all the way back to Sydney's 40m. One way traffic so far.
9min: SYD 6-0 MEL
SYD TRY! Tupou scores the first try of the Grand Final! Roosters shift it to the left and Keary has it in the middle of the field. Floats a beautiful skip pass to Tupou and he's on the outside of Vunivalu. Gets around him and dives for the corner. Mitchell misses to the left with the extras.
7min: SYD 2-0 MEL
Cronk gets it on the last. He goes high but he's hit hard! Still got the kick off and it's a beauty. High, just outside the Storm's goalline and they can't recover it. Kaufusi knocks it on and Roosters recover. Six more just 10m out.
6min: SYD 2-0 MEL
Roosters take 42m after the kickoff but Slater makes another good return to get to his 20m. Roosters defence shuts them down again though! Only 36m this time. Croft kicks from halfway. Tupou takes it clean and gets taken down just outside his 20. Sydney's defence has been superb early. Still waiting for Cronk to get in the game.
4min: SYD 2-0 MEL
SYD TWO! No mucking around. Mitchell steps up and takes the free penalty. Two sets in for the Roosters. Cronk hasn't touched the ball yet.
3min: SYD 0-0 MEL
Roosters with the first attackling chance of the night. There's good ball movement down the left side of the field and it sees Cordner hit the line and make some big metres. He's taken down 20m short but Chambers pins him too long and it's a penalty.
2min: SYD 0-0 MEL
Roosters make 41m on their opening set. Slater takes the kick with ease and gets back to his 20m. Roosters defence is solid and limits Storm to 28m. Croft kicks and Tupou brings it back to the Roosters' 30m. Sydney winning the early metres battle.
KICKOFF
Storm get us going. The Grand Final is underway!
10:33pm
Bit of "Advance Australia Fair" to get the emotions going. Moments away from kickoff.
10:30pm
The Storm come out to Thuderstruck. Cameron Smith and Billy Slater take the field first before the team follows them out. Roosters are out shortly after. Cronk is the last one to take the pitch.
9:35pm
The retirees parade comes and goes. Special class here with seven of the 15 players members of the 300 game club including Warriors legend Simon Mannering. Congratulations again, Simon.
9:26pm
The final teams have been submitted and Cooper Cronk will play for the Roosters! That means the starting line ups are as follows.
SYD: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Joseph Manu 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Luke Keary 23. Cooper Cronk 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Sio Siua Taukeiaho 11. Boyd Cordner 7. Mitchell Aubusson 13. Victor Radley
MEL: 1. Billy Slater 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Curtis Scott 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Brodie Croft 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cameron Smith 10. Tim Glasby 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Joe Stimson 13. Dale Finucane
PREVIEW
It's taken them five years to get back to the biggest stage, but the Sydney Roosters know their work will be cut out for them tonight if they want to claim a fourteenth premiership.
And that's before factoring in Cooper Cronk.
It's been one of the biggest talking points all week and nothing will be known until an hour before kickoff as to whether the man who guided the Storm to multiple titles will look to deny them one tonight with an injured shoulder.
There's also the swansong for Billy Slater to take into account and whether tonight could in fact also be Cameron Smith's final game too.
The Storm will also be inspired by the fact they can become the first team since the 1992-93 Broncos to claim consecutive titles.
The two sides have been hard to split so far this season and with their last match finish 9-8 in favour of the Storm, it could go either way tonight.
TEAMS
SYD: 1. James Tedesco 2. Daniel Tupou 3. Latrell Mitchell 4. Joseph Manu 5. Blake Ferguson 6. Luke Keary 7. Mitchell Aubusson 8. Jared Waerea-Hargreaves 9. Jake Friend 10. Sio Siua Taukeiaho 11. Boyd Cordner 12. Isaac Liu 13. Victor Radley
Interchange (from): 14. Dylan Napa 15. Zane Tetevano 16. Paul Momirovski 17. Ryan Matterson 18. Lindsay Collins 23. Cooper Cronk
MEL: 1. Billy Slater 2. Suliasi Vunivalu 3. Will Chambers 4. Curtis Scott 5. Josh Addo-Carr 6. Cameron Munster 7. Brodie Croft 8. Jesse Bromwich 9. Cameron Smith 10. Tim Glasby 11. Felise Kaufusi 12. Joe Stimson 13. Dale Finucane
Interchange (from): 14. Kenneath Bromwich 15. Christian Welch 16. Brandon Smith 17. Nelson Asofa-Solomona 18. Ryan Hoffman 19. Jahrome Hughes
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