The Melbourne Storm have lost their second straight grand final after a heartbreaking defeat at the hands of the Broncos.
A couple of stars were uncharastically quiet for Melbourne, who bombed a couple of late potential game-winning chances.
Read on for the Storm player ratings!
1. RYAN PAPENHUYZEN — 8
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One of the Storm’s best but he was outshone by his opposite number, who had an otherworldly game.
Threw the last pass of a slick backline play which put Nick Meaney into space for the Storm’s first try.
Needed to do better defensively on Reece Walsh after the fullback sliced through. Walsh made him Papenhuyzen look quite ordinary when scoring the Broncos’ second try.
However, he made up for that with two try saving tackles late in the first half as the Broncos made a last ditch attacking raid.
Had a golden chance to score the match winner in the final minutes as he supported Eli Katoa on the inside, but after receiving the pass, he was quickly tackled which ended the set.
2. WILL WARBRICK — 6
Determined effort to score his first half try, able to find the line despite a couple of Broncos coming over in cover defence, but overall, it was the winger’s best night.
Rocked by a Ezra Mam tackle and made a crucial error which gifted possession to the Broncos, who trimmed the margin to two with a try in the ensuing set.
He then made two more errors in the second half that were costly, particularly the knock on from a Papenhuyzen flick pass. Warbrick just had to catch it and he would have been mighty hard to stop from five metres out.
He did run for 183 metres (game’s second highest), had five tackle busts and recorded two line breaks.
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3. JACK HOWARTH — N/A
Poor tackle attempt on Reece Walsh led to a Broncos try in the 4th minute.
Minutes later, he injured himself in a tackle from Kotoni Staggs. He tried to play on but was clearly in discomfort and came off the ground in the 15th minute and didn’t return.
“They are saying that Jack Howarth has injured a tendon in his groin. They are working on it, but at this stage they do not believe that he’ll be able to return to the field,” sideline reporter Danika Mason said in commentary.
4. NICK MEANEY — 5
Ran a terrific line with speed to score Melbourne’s first from 20 metres out, beating a couple of tackles.
Ordinary tackle attempt on Gehamat Shibasaki’s try in the 57th minute, with the Broncos centre breaking it easily en route to the line. Overall, he was given a bath by Shibasaki, who had three line breaks.
Meaney had eight missed tackles and barring that first try, it wasn’t the greatest night for the centre.
5. XAVIER COATES — 5.5
Ran for over 100 metres but he failed to make much of an impact.
No threat on attacking kicks, unable to create any potential try scoring opportunities.
He also missed more tackles than he made.
Reynolds forced out of Grand Final | 00:42
6. CAMERON MUNSTER — 5.5
Quiet night.
The Storm are at their best when he is running the ball, but up until the final 10 minutes, he had just three carries (finished with six). Finally looked dangerous in the last few minutes when the Storm needed a miracle but it was all in vain.
He did apply some pressure with a couple of attacking kicks and made some strong tackles but he also missed five.
“We defended too much in the back end there and gave them too much ball. The result speaks for itself,” a disappointed Munster said post-game.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 05: Cameron Munster of the Storm reacts during the NRL Grand Final match between the Melbourne Storm at Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on October 05, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
7. JAHROME HUGHES — 8
Was criticised for a quiet game in last year’s decider. He was anything but 12 months later on the same stage, scoring a try and setting up another.
There isn’t a better halfback-second row combo in the comp than Hughes and Eli Katoa. The lethal partnership shined early when Hughes put in a beautiful, deft grubber 10 metres out which Katoa chased down to score.
Hughes would cross for one of his own five minutes before the break, stepping back on his inside and shedding a couple of soft tackle attempts to score under the posts. That was his 13th try in his last 14 games against Brisbane.
8. STEFANO UTOIKAMANU — 6.5
Talked the talk during the week, but did he back it up? Probably not to the extent he and the Storm fans would have wanted him to.
Plenty of impactful runs, averaging nearly 9 metres a carry but the Storm needed more of that from him.
9. HARRY GRANT — 5.5
The Broncos kept him well in check.
Tireless night defensively, making 43 tackles without any misses but in attack, he didn’t pose much of a threat.
Him and Cam Munster combined for just eight runs. That’s simply not enough from Melbourne’s star duo.
SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA – OCTOBER 05: Harry Grant of the Storm speaks on stage during the official presentation following the NRL Grand Final match between the Melbourne Storm at Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on October 05, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
10. JOSH KING — 6
Reliable workhorse who made a couple of defensive miscues but on the whole, it was a sound game from the prop forward.
11. SHAWN BLORE — 6.5
Proved a handful for the defence on occasion but was clearly outshone by Melbourne’s other edge forward.
Solid performance. Blore hold his head up high
12. ELIESA KATOA — 9
The best of the beaten bunch.
One of the game’s best try-scoring edge forwards crossed after running down a Jahrome Hughes kick.
He then went deeper into his bag and pulled off a rare cut out pass to set up a Will Warbrick try.
Kept the Storm on the front foot and created plenty of second phase play with four offloads.
Tried his hardest to create a potential game-winning try and almost pulled something miraculous when he broke down the right edge and passed it back inside to Ryan Papenhuyzen but the Storm fullback was tackled by Reece Walsh.
13. TRENT LOIERO — 4
Tried hard defensively (42 tackles), but gave away two penalties.
The second of those resulted in him going to the sin bin after he collected Pat Carrigan high.
That sin bin essentially cruelled any chance the Storm had as it meant they were down to 12 men for the final two minutes.
That tackle is sure to draw the ire of not only the match review committee but his coach Craig Bellamy.
Loiero’s lack of discipline late cost the Storm in Magic Round, with Bellamy filthy with his lock forward after that loss to Canberra. Unfortunately for Melbourne, the lack of discipline has proven costly again.
Late Sin Bin & Melee IGNITE Accor | 00:29
14. TYRAN WISHART — 5.5
The versatile super sub entered the game 15 minutes in after Jack Howarth’s injury.
Wishart slotted into the centres and was tasked with one of the toughest assignments in the game, marking up on the in-form Kotoni Staggs. For the most part, he did a very good job defensively.
However, the Storm’s attack suffered with Wishart in the centres as he lacks the speed and explosiveness. A couple of Storm half breaks or promising back line movements lost its lustre when Wishart received the ball.
15. ATIVALU LISATI — 5
Minimal impact from the 24-year-old.
Was on the ground for 27 minutes but only had two runs. In fairness, the Storm would have had far less ball than the Broncos when Lisati was on the field.
16. TUI KAMIKAMICA — 6
The veteran had plenty of strong carries soon after being injected into the game in the first half.
He and Ryan Papenhuyzen came up with a desperate tackle on the first half buzzer which potentially saved a Broncos try.
But, he dropped a potential try over the line in the second half with just the much smaller Reece Walsh to beat.
17. ALEC MACDONALD — 5.5
Injured his elbow and spent a bit of time on the sideline receiving treatment but ended up returning to the field.
Only played in 15 minutes but had a decent enough input for his short time on.