The game itself is usually preceded by an opening ceremony featuring a headline musical act, a Welcome to Country, and a rendition of the Australian national anthem sung by well-known Australasian and international artists.

[5] The player judged to be the man of the match by the selectors of the ARL national team is awarded the prestigious Clive Churchill Medal, and the Prime Minister of Australia is typically available to hand the Provan-Summons Trophy to the winning captain.

[6] First grade rugby league in NSW began in 1908, the first premiership deciding game was played at the Royal Agricultural Society Showground, with Souths defeating Easts 14–12.

It was announced in June 2019 that the 2020 and 2021 Grand Finals would be played at the Sydney Cricket Ground, while Stadium Australia underwent redevelopment.

It is a three-dimensional cast of a famous photo called The Gladiators,[10] which depicts a mud-soaked Norm Provan of St. George and Arthur Summons of Western Suburbs embracing after the 1963 NSWRFL season's grand final.

The Clive Churchill Medal is the award given to the player judged to be man-of-the-match in the National Rugby League's annual grand final.

The award was created to honour Clive Churchill, one of the greatest rugby league players in Australian history, following his death in 1985.

A prestigious honour in the NRL, the medal's recipient is chosen by the selectors of the Australian national team and announced and awarded to the player judged best and fairest on the ground at every post-grand final ceremony.

The only three players to have won the award more than once are Canberra's Bradley Clyde (1989 and 1991), Melbourne Storm's Billy Slater (2009 and 2017) and Penrith Panthers' Nathan Cleary (2021 and 2023).

In 2010, the Melbourne Storm were stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships due to salary cap breaches exposed by the NRL, however the Clive Churchill Medallists from those years still continue to be recognised.

After the 2004 NRL Grand Final which was won by the Bulldogs, one of their players, Johnathan Thurston gave his premiership ring to teammate Steve Price who missed the decider due to injury.

Since 2015, Affinity Diamonds have produced the NRL premiership rings[12][13][14] Prize money of AUD$400,000 is awarded to the victorious club.

1Reduced crowd due to stadium capacity restrictions The 2021 Grand Final was held in Brisbane for the first time in the competition's history due to an ongoing COVID-19 lockdown in New South Wales, which prompted the NRL to relocate it from Stadium Australia in Sydney, where every NRL Grand Final since 1999 had been hosted.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the match was attended by only 39,322 spectators because the Government of Queensland limited Lang Park to seventy-five percent of its maximum capacity.

The Gold Coast Titans and Dolphins are the only teams currently competing in the competition who have not featured in a grand final since the start of the NRL (1998).

The match was remembered due to its controversy with claims the referee George Bishop had put a big wager on Western Suburbs winning the game.

[21] 1963 – St. George beat Western Suburbs 8–3 in a match famous for the iconic 'Gladiators' photo of Norm Provan and Arthur Summons covered in mud.

[22] 1965 – A then record crowd of 78,056 packed into the Sydney Cricket Ground to see St. George captain Norm Provan play his last NSWRFL game.

[30] 1999 – A record crowd of 107,999 watch the two newest clubs Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra Dragons battle it out.

[32] 2002 – Pre-game entertainment Billy Idol arrived on ground on board a hovercraft, but due to technical issues – "waiting for some power" – he did not perform.

[citation needed] North Queensland Cowboys winger Kyle Feldt scored a try from a Michael Morgan try-assist after the full-time siren to level the game at 16–16.

After Jonathan Thurston missed the sideline conversion, hitting the right post, the match went to golden point extra time, the first grand final to do so.

From the ensuing set of six, Thurston kicked the winning field goal, and he was subsequently awarded the Clive Churchill Medal.

Roosters' Cooper Cronk was sent to the sin bin for 10 minutes for a professional foul (tackling a player not in possession of the football).

Four tackles later, the Roosters ran 80 metres, the ball passing between Keary, Latrell Mitchell, Daniel Tupou, and finally Tedesco, who scored the match-winning try.

Exclusive replay rights for the 12 hours following the game are held by subscription channel Fox League and streaming service Kayo Sports.

The 2014 NRL Grand Final had a crowd of 83,833, which was the largest attendance at a sporting event at Stadium Australia since its 2001 reconfiguration saw its spectator capacity drop from 110,000 to 83,500.