A Reece Walsh masterclass lifted a depleted Broncos to the NRL premiership in a comeback 26-22 win over Melbourne in Sunday's grand final.
The 23-year-old fullback stood tall in deciding moments, both with and without the ball, to claim the Clive Churchill Medal as best afield.
It's the Broncos first premiership in 19 years, with two grand final heartbreaks in between, after keeping the Storm scoreless in the second half and responding to 22-12 deficit at the half time break.
Another grand final loss threatened for Brisbane when veteran halves Adam Reynolds and Ben Hunt were ruled out during the second half, with a suspected calf injury and concussion, respectively, with Ezra Mam instrumental in the result taking charge of playmaking duties.
Torres Strait man Gehamat Shibasaki finished with two tries.
Walsh, already having an impact on the contest through the opening 40 mins, lifted further in the second - most devastating with cut-out passes at the line to send teammates over and steal the contest as Brisbane controlled proceedings.
He'd beaten five defenders to break a string of three Storm tries 10 minutes from the break, after sending Deine Mariner over for the first points of the match two minutes into the contest.
JUST TRY AND STOP HIM 😤
Reece Walsh has Nerves of Steel. pic.twitter.com/UkMr3ycTX3
— NRL (@NRL) October 5, 2025
Walsh's influence also came in defence, with a dying moments decision to rush up quelling Ryan Papenhauzen's opportunity to pull a win out of certain defeat down the right hand side with seconds remaining.
He finished with 14 tackle breaks, three try assists, three line break assists, 207 running metres in a player of the match performance, having also taken on goal kicking duties when Reynolds went out of the game.
When the Broncos were first staging a comeback forcing repeated sets attacking the in-goal without result, he was denied another huge moment when a desperate flick in hope that sent his side over was pulled back for the forward pass.
Taking on the responsibility in the halves, Mam was massive coordinating a dominant 40 minute period.
It's a different picture to the one painted when Mam asserted himself into the competition's elite in the 2023 grand final - though three late tried handed Penrith a three-peat on the night.
Kotoni Staggs ran for 144 metres in the centres - his best moment came helping drag Storm wing Xavier Coates into touch when Melbourne threatened in dangerous position late in the contest.
Shibasaki ended with three line breaks, nine tackle breaks and 201 metres run with the ball. It was round 14 when Brisbane entered the eight and stayed, having slid from 4-1 to start the year to 5-7 after round 13.
The 27-year-old was nearly lost to rugby league, close to giving up the game less than 12 months ago before taking a train-and-trial deal at the club.
He's now a State of Origin winner and premiership player.
Michael Maguire's men did it the hard way through finals, coming from behind in both contests leading into the grand final - including a 12-nil deficit entering the sheds against Penrith before ending their run at five straight premierships.
It makes it a sweep of rugby league for Brisbane.
They're NRLW team lodged their own comeback over the Sydney Roosters to claim their fourth premiership in the women's competition.
