2016 NRL grand final: Melbourne Storm v Cronulla Sharks at ANZ Stadium

EMOTIONS were high as Cronulla broke their title drought — none more so than with Sharks skipper Paul Gallen, who gave a raw on-field interview. HOW THE MATCH UNFOLDED

EMOTIONS were high as the Cronulla Sharks ended 50 years of pain with a breakthrough grand final win over Melbourne Storm.

Skipper Paul Gallen was overcome as he spoke on the field just moments after helping his side hold on for the famous 14-12 win at ANZ Stadium. “Oh man, I can’t tell you how proud I am of these blokes,” Gallen said. “Three weeks ago I was in f***en hospital, I couldn’t walk, I watched the blokes beat Canberra, I was crying on the lounge I was so proud of them. “The way they did it, oh my god they’re the best blokes ever, they are so good. “I can believe it because of the hard work we have put in. To do this, this is awesome I’m so proud of them. I’m so happy, so proud of them.” BREAKTHROUGH: Super Sharks end 50-year title drought WHO STARRED, STRUGGLED: NRL grand final player ratings BUZZ ROTHFIELD: The greatest night of our lives RETIRING?: Did Rabs save his best for last grand final? SKIPPER SHINES: Gallen‘s moment of pure brilliance THE RETIREE: ‘The Menace’ saves biggest play for last EPIC EFFORT: Smith’s 72 tackles can’t save the Storm When asked about the Storm’s dramatic comeback in the last 20 minutes, Gallen said he had faith in his team. “Stay composed, stick to the system, we had a five-minute period where we had possession, we got back to doing that, Andrew Fifita, he crashed over, we held on for 10 minutes, it was awesome.”

Live Updates

10:16 pm October 2, 2016

The fans have waited a long time to see this…

10:16 pm October 2, 2016

The 2016 premiers lift the trophy.

10:11 pm October 2, 2016

Ben Barba:

To go all this way through the year, you don’t want to lose on a day like today. Obviously there’s got to be one loser, unlucky to Melbourne, this is unreal, I can’t believe some of these people have waited so long for it to happen, I’m glad he we could deliver.

10:10 pm October 2, 2016

Chad Townsend:

50 years this club has been waiting for it, to be part of the first team to bring it home I’ll never forget. We were able to hang in there in the end and come away with it. We knew they would come at us to the 80th minute. The boys made special efforts, that’s the type of stuff that gets you premiership

10:09 pm October 2, 2016

Sharks coach Shane Flanagan with a bit of a backhanded comment for ET but I’m sure he didn’t mean it…

I saw how much it meant to people when I came down being I saw E T his eyes were full of tears, a great player, he wasn’t good enough to win one, we did it tonight, as Gal said we did it fo for all the ex players. What the shire has done, really over the whole year it’s uplifting our strong a community it can be, unbelievable.

9:57 pm October 2, 2016

Paul Gallen addressing the crowd:

First of all, I have to thank Cameron and Craig and the Melbourne Storm, minor prem yes, a terrific side they kept coming to us all day. We had to stick to our systems, eight points wasn’t going to be enough. We spoke all week about wanting it more. Thankfully we held on.

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We worked our back sides off from last November, the boys, the best bunch of blokes we played for each other all year. You hung on, tonight I’m proud of you, you are unreal.

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To all the fans, we have waited 50 years for this. I can’t thank you all for all the former players, like ET, who busted their backsides for it and never quite got to this. I hope you enjoy it. To all the people back in the shire turn your porch lights off because we are coming home with the trophy!

9:52 pm October 2, 2016

By SOPHIE SMITH IN MELBOURNE

EMOTIONAL Storm supporters have left a Melbourne live-site exhausted after an agonisingly close NRL Grand Final against Cronulla.

Hundreds of people lodged in the Lagerfield Bar in the CBD held onto hope of a premiership victory until the end where Melbourne held possession.
The minor premiers ran out of time, however, leaving seven lonely Sharks fans to celebrate in a corner with a tight 14-12 triumph.
“We gave it our all. At the end I thought we could snatch it, I thought we had enough, but didn’t,” Peta Nobelius said.
“You feel every emotion. The room was up, down, so it was good.”
The tension in the room grew palpable as fans dressed predominately in club colours followed the game on a central large screen.
Celebrations from a young group of Sharks supporters almost became too much for one local fan that became aggressive, yelling at them before turning back to the screen in what was otherwise a trouble free event.
Melbourne supporters were obviously disappointed with the result but complimentary of the final and the way their club played.
“We could have won it in the last 10 seconds,” one said.

9:51 pm October 2, 2016

And don’t forget about all those faithful Sharks fans.

9:49 pm October 2, 2016

Such emotion from the Sharks players as they celebrate their club’s first premiership.

9:42 pm October 2, 2016

Storm captain Cameron Smith addressing the crowd.

Firstly, can I give a massive congratulations to Shane, Paul and the Cronulla Sharks for a wonderful match. Guys you’ve had a fantastic year. You deserve that premiership trophy. I hope you enjoy that one.