Overview

• Brisbane rallied from 14-0 down to beat Penrith 16-14, halting the Panthers’ four-year premiership run.
• Melbourne defeated Cronulla 22-14 to claim the other preliminary final and lock in a Storm–Broncos decider.
• Commentators questioned bunker rulings from the prelims, pointing to a possible Paul Alamoti drop and a potential double movement on Brisbane’s late try.
• The scheduling of the preliminaries drew criticism for giving Melbourne a longer turnaround than Brisbane before the grand final.
• Broncos forwards Payne Haas and Jordan Riki played the full 80 minutes, putting recovery in the spotlight ahead of next weekend.