The 2017 NRL Grand Final was the conclusive and premiership-deciding game of the 2017 National Rugby League season and was played on Sunday October 1 at Sydney's ANZ Stadium.

Pre-match entertainment was headlined by American rapper Macklemore, who attracted controversy for his scheduled performance of "Same Love" during the ongoing nationwide postal survey on same-sex marriage.

The Melbourne Storm qualified for their seventh grand final since 2006, with only coach Craig Bellamy and halfback Cooper Cronk having been involved on each occasion.

The North Queensland Cowboys made their first grand final appearance since their maiden premiership victory over the Brisbane Broncos in 2015, as well as their third in the club's history.

Melbourne Storm halfback Cooper Cronk played in his seventh grand final after having previously featured in every premiership decider his club have reached since 2006.

North Queensland utility Ben Hampton made a consecutive Grand Final appearance after playing for the Storm in their loss to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks the preceding year's premiership decider.

The first try came in the 19th minute when Will Chambers pounced on a loose ball 10m from his own line and beat a couple of defenders before offloading to Josh Addo-Carr, who sprinted 75m for the try.

Cronk forced a dropout with a well-weighted kick and on the resulting play in the 28th minute, Slater drew two defenders and set up Felise Kaufusi who had a clear run to the line and gave Melbourne their second try.

In a complete team performance, the “Big Three” had their fingerprints all over the execution of the plan and in the 37th minute, Cronk and Smith combined for Slater to slice through past Justin O’Neil for Melbourne's third try.

With the game well and truly over, Melbourne turned into the Harlem Globetrotters with Smith, Cronk, Slater and Tohu Harris combining in the 73rd minute for a party-trick to set up Addo-Carr for his second try of the night.

[11] American rapper Macklemore was booked to perform four songs, accompanied by singers Eric Nally and Mary Lambert, including "Same Love".

[12] The song topped the Australian charts in 2013, and was regarded as an anthem for same-sex marriage advocates during the campaign in Macklemore's home state of Washington.

[13] Several prominent conservative politicians voiced strong opposition to the scheduled performance of "Same Love", given its high-profile support for the 'Yes' campaign during the voting period of the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.