Channel Nine probably couldn’t believe their luck when a Melbourne Storm versus Brisbane Broncos clash fell into their lap for Thursday Night Footy. The game has everything you could possibly want in a prime-time matchup. It’s Munster and Grant against Carrigan and Haas. It’s a battle of the competition’s most explosive fullbacks in Sua Fa’alogo and Reece Walsh. And most importantly, it’s a rematch of last year’s Grand Final.

That billing is somewhat detached from the real circumstances of the game. Instead, both sides are mathematically out of contention for the finals. Melbourne sit 11th, while Brisbane have seen their premiership defence crumble, as they look to avoid being the first team since 1953 to go from being premiers to winning the spoon. 

Much of the NRL’s media circus had spent the days leading up to the game wrapped up in the back and forth of the Adam Reynolds saga. The Broncos’ injured halfback went from being too injured to feature in one last game at Suncorp Stadium one day, to actually being fit enough to make an appearance the next, only to ‘choose’ not to, ending his career in the process.

The NRL had also decided to use this end of the season to test out its new kick-off rule. In this test phase, the team that concedes a try can choose whether to kick or receive the ball at the restart. When they said it would be tested in games between sides mathematically eliminated from making the finals, it would have been a much safer bet to imagine it being used in, say, next weekend’s Eels versus Dragons matchup, and not one involving either of these teams.

It was, all things considered, probably not the Grand Final rematch the NRL and broadcasters had signed up for. 

Thus, with both sides’ years essentially over, the game was instead a showcase of two teams trying to demonstrate that they had enough about them to be back next year. For the Storm, the evening’s 46-20 victors, there are enough signs to signify they aren’t miles off being one of the top eight sides in the competition. 

Their attack this year has been characterised by a lack of offensive organisation as Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes have spent time out of the side with injuries or involvement in State of Origin. As a result, players like Tyran Wishart and Nick Meaney have been shifted around the backline into unfamiliar or weak positions. Now, with a full-strength halves pairing back up and running, the dangers posed with the ball are back. The days of the Storm’s seven-game losing streak from rounds three to nine, the longest in the club’s history, may now be far behind them.

And while the defensive frailties of Sua Fa’alogo have not been completely eradicated, 2026 has been the year in which the Samoan has confirmed his place as being potentially only a year away from being one of the best fullbacks in the competition. Younger players like Fa’alogo and 20-year-old Cooper Clarke, a genuine freak of nature, have arguably been the brightest stars in a down year for Craig Bellamy’s side

As for the Broncos, their tailspin seems to be continuing, and the defending premiers will finish the year with only three wins at home. Ezra Mam, Deine Marriner, and Josiah Karapani have struggled to replicate the level they were playing at in their side’s premiership winning campaign, their struggles so vast Mam was at one point dropped from the side altogether. Kotoni Staggs and Gehamat Shibasaki have struggled so much it’s highly unlikely the pair will continue to have a monopoly on the centre positions in the Kangaroos side, and starboy Reece Walsh has battled injury all year, even seeing his season ended early by his most recent knock.

What could have been an occasion to remember the contributions of retiring players like Reynolds or Corey Jensen, or departing players Jesse Arthars or Payne Haas in their last appearance at Suncorp for the year, became one that all involved seemed to wish would be over even quicker. Once the game had concluded, some of the departing players were paraded around the ground to wave goodbye, only for the big screen to be showing an advert for KIA instead. 

And that new kick-off rule, given prime-time billing by the NRL to be tested out in front of the largest possible audience, was not used until fifty minutes in, when the Storm finally elected to receive the ball after conceding a try. Even though Melbourne were down to twelve men, the game was slipping out of sight for the home side. Melbourne’s choice had little noticeable effect. 

The spectacle of the Grand Final rematch was, like so much else about both sides’ seasons, not what it was meant to be.