2009 NRL Season - Grand Final

Grand Final

The Melbourne Storm were playing in their fourth consecutive Grand Final, with a team later deemed illegal due to massive over spending on the salary cap and were up against the Parramatta Eels who were playing in their first Grand Final since 2001. Parramatta were first team since the McIntyre Finals System was introduced in 1999 to make the Grand Final from 8th spot.

First Half: Melbourne's Ryan Hoffman broke the Eels' line to scored the first try of the game in the fifth minute to make the score 6–0. Parramatta was looking shaky in the first half, and Melbourne capitalised with a try to Adam Blair in the 24th minute, set up by a Cooper Cronk line-break, to make the score 10–0.

Second Half: Parramatta scored early in the second half, with Eric Grothe, Jr., scoring in the 45th minute to bring the scoreline to 10–6. Melbourne responded quickly, with tries to Greg Inglis off a bomb kick in the 49th minute and Billy Slater from a line break in the 56th minute, to open a handy 22–6 lead heading into the final quarter of the game. Parramatta attacked through the final quarter of the game, then broke through for two tries: one to Joel Reddy off a bomb kick in the 70th minute, then a barnstorming run from Fuifui Moimoi off an off-load in the 72nd minute; only the former of these tries was converted, bringing the score to 22–16. In the 76th minute, with Melbourne attacking from their own half, Billy Slater dropped the ball as he tried to play it, but referee Tony Archer ruled that Parramatta's Fuifui Moimoi had held Slater down in the tackle, and awarded a penalty to the Storm; Greg Inglis scored a field goal in the ensuing set-of-six, extending the margin to 23–16 in the 78th minute. Melbourne would hold on to win by that score.