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Footy fans have been left fuming on social media, with some claiming that the Sydney Roosters were ‘robbed’, as the Brisbane Broncos sealed a controversial Grand Final comeback victory to be crowned NRLW premiers for the first time in five years.
Rampaging Broncos centre Mele Hufanga scored five minutes from full-time at Accor Stadium to wrap up an 18-22 victory and ruin the Roosters’ hopes of completing the perfect season.
Unsavoury scenes then erupted at full-time, as Brisbane’s Julia Robinson and Sydney’s Aliyah Nasio squared off in a heated scuffle just as the Broncos began to celebrate the victory. The Roosters second-row was also seen connecting her hand to the face of Robinson during the mele.
The heated stoush quickly escalated, with both groups of players rushing in to separate the players, as members of the Broncos’ bench ran onto the field in excitement over the win.
Nasio was seen being dragged away from the mele, and tempers then quickly cooled, with the players then separating before shaking hands.
Nasio, meanwhile, has been placed on report for a high shot on Ali Brigginshaw during the match.
Brigginshaw opened up on the mele to ABC Sport after the match: ‘You know what, we are so firey, we’re competitive, we love our jersey… I know the girls will be friends after.’
In a match that had plenty of twists and turns, Olivia Kernick and Jasmine Strange clattered into Hufanga, and looked as though they had just stopped the centre from touching the ball on the grass.
While many fans believed they had done enough to hold up the centre and stop the try, their efforts were in vain, with officials awarding the Broncos the last-gasp try.
‘Ref has legitimately cost a team a comp. #nrlw,’ one social media user fumed on X.
‘Roosters robbed. That was no try #nrlw #nrlwgf,’ another added.
‘She didn’t get that down, Shocking call which could cost the Roosters a premiership #NRLW.’
Another added: ‘Surely there’s a hand under there.’
After winning every match through the 11-game regular season and the finals, the Roosters were gunning to seal an unbeaten campaign and lift a second-straight premiership on Sunday.
The Broncos had led 12-0 at halftime courtesy of tries from Tamika Upton and Jada Ferguson, but the Roosters came roaring back by scoring three times in an eight-minute salvo early into the second half.
Brisbane looked in all sorts of trouble but a 60th minute try from Shalom Sauaso got them back to within striking distance before Hufanga came up with the match-winning four-pointer.
The win brought Brisbane their fourth NRLW premiership.
