The Roosters Won Both Grand Finals, and the Women Did It Without Losing a Game

Three and a half hours before Daly Cherry-Evans kicked his field goal, the Roosters women had already finished. They beat Brisbane 30-6, and that completed a season in which they did not lose.

It was over by half-time

26-0 at the break. Brydie Parker scored three. Halfback Tarryn Aiken took the Karyn Murphy Medal as player of the match.

Brisbane’s only try came late, with an assist from their captain Tamika Upton, who had been named NRLW player of the year at the Dally M Awards four days earlier. That is a rough way to finish a season.

A rematch that was not close

These two met in the 2025 decider as well. A grand final rematch is usually a story about the losing side learning something in the twelve months between. This one was about the winning side moving further ahead.

Why an unbeaten season is the harder thing

Premierships get won by teams who peak in September. Going a whole season without losing is a different test, and a less forgiving one. One ordinary afternoon in round nine and it is gone.

The Roosters did not have one.

Both trophies, one afternoon

Gates opened at 1:00pm. The women kicked off at four, the men at half past seven. By the time Cherry-Evans lined up his drop goal, the first trophy of the day was already in a Roosters dressing room.

For a club that had not won a men’s premiership since 2019 and spent a fair bit of that time being told its best years were behind it, taking both on the same day is about as direct an answer as the fixture list allows.

Also worth reading: Cherry-Evans’ last game and the records that went with it, and how Newcastle got from the wooden spoon to within a point.