NRL grand final: It’s a Covid-bubble double viewed from afar

A thunderous weekend of AFL and NRL landed our greatest sporting city a phenomenal premiership double.

Melbourne's Cameron Smith lifts the trophy after defeating the Penrith Panthers in the NRL Grand Final at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on Sunday night. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Melbourne, eh? Locked down. Got up anyway.

A thunderous weekend of AFL and NRL grand finals landed Australia’s greatest sporting city a phenomenal premiership double when the Richmond Tigers won the AFL flag on an electrifying night in Brisbane before the Melbourne Storm triumphed in the NRL decider in Sydney.

On Saturday night, Dusty Martin had sufficient muscle, magic and mettle to win another Norm Smith Medal as the Tigers grabbed their third AFL premiership in four years — this time in front of 30,000 at the Gabba.

Two of Martin’s four goals slid and spun and straightened like Walter Lindrum was manoeuvring a ball around a lush green ­billiard table with a well-chalked cue.

The AFL’s first three-time Norm Smith Medal winner proved himself a man of many tattoos but few words, shrugging and saying: “You just try to take your chances when its your moment.”

On Sunday night, Storm captain Cam Smith was booed relentlessly by Penrith Panthers supporters in what was understood to be the 430th and final game of his record-breaking career. He had the last and loudest laugh by scurrying over for a try, kicking two goals and ­orchestrating the 26-20 triumph like he was holding a conductor’s baton. He knew he was on his way to victory when the Panthers-­dominated crowd of 37,303 at ANZ Stadium in Sydney started going quiet late in the first half. In the end, they were barely making a peep.

Young Panthers halfback Nathan Cleary scored a last-minute try that redeemed a night to forget after pretty much a week from hell. He was heavily favoured to win the Dally M Award last week but was shocked by the player-of-the-year gong going to Canberra’s Jack Wighton. He threw a regrettable pass for a crucial Melbourne try to Suliasa Vunivalu in his worst performance of the season. He went from disappointed to despairing to dispirited to devastated, and so did the crowd supporting Sydney’s only grand final team in either code.

It was quite the weekend of sport. Sport in all its mad glory. Sport of so much emotion and adrenaline and atmosphere that it was almost too much to handle. Cox Plate-winning trainer Ciaron Maher was giddy enough to momentarily who was Arthur and Martha … in his own family. He watched Sir Dragonet salute at Moonee Valley and then gushed. “I’ve got to give my mum and dad a shout-out, too. All my brothers and sisters – ah, brothers. Sorry! I don’t have any sisters.”

Tigers Dustin Martin, left, and Trent Cotchin hold the Premiership Trophy aloft on Sunday at the Gold Coast. The Richmond Tigers defeated the Geelong Cats in the AFL Grand Final on Saturday night. Picture: Getty Images

Richmond’s 12.9 (81) to 7.8 (50) victory robbed the all-time great Gary Ablett jnr of a fairytale win in his 357th and last game from Geelong. He reeled from a suspected fractured shoulder and the devastatingly lopsided scoreboard in some of the saddest sights you could imagine in sport.

He issued a farewell post that included two telling words — “I’m sorry” — after Martin had taken the game by the scruff of the neck to become the AFL’s only three-time Norm Smith Medallist.

His iron-willed performance was watched by a peak national television audience of 4.283 million. With a tip of his hat to the code’s Melbourne-centric fan base, AFL boss Gillon McLachlan said: “To all our loyal fans who tuned in across the season, I hope the footy was able to provide you with some comfort and a break from the challenging circumstances the year has thrown up. Your loyalty and devotion to your clubs showed why you are the best fans in all of sports.”

Two from two for Melbourne. The double from the COVID-19 bubble. The Tigers’ fan day should have attracted thousands of members of the Tigers Army to Punt Road. Instead, they basically got a man and his dog to the Gold Coast. The Storm have been based on the Sunshine Coast since June, and yet both powerhouse clubs both prevailed in grand finals we thought we would not see. Remember when sport was stopped cold by COVID-19?

Yet the codes survived. We basked in another round of celebration and devastation and atmosphere and all the good stuff. Who really won on the weekend? Melbourne. Australia’s premier sporting city … even when there’s no sport being played in the city.