The 2026 NRL season is over, with the Sydney Roosters crowned premiers after a dramatic Grand Final win over the Newcastle Knights.

On the season finale of Down the Sideline, we unpack the Grand Final from every angle. Did Newcastle let the premiership slip away? How did the Roosters turn the match around? And where does this decider rank among the great Grand Finals?

We debate whether Kalyn Ponga should have been sin-binned, whether the Grand Final was refereed differently to the regular season, and who really deserved the Clive Churchill Medal.

There’s also the big legacy discussion: where does James Tedesco now rank among the greatest fullbacks of all time, and what does a premiership-winning farewell mean for Daly Cherry-Evans?

Plus, Tim reacts to the wall-to-wall Knights coverage, we compare the NRL and AFL Grand Final entertainment, and finish with our way-too-early predictions for the 2027 season.

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It’s Newcastle v the Roosters in the NRL Grand Final — meaning two of the three Down the Sideline teams are still standing.

We unpack Newcastle’s incredible preliminary final win over Penrith, including the send-off controversy, the Knights’ resilience and what went wrong for the Panthers.

Then it’s Roosters v Dolphins: Mark Nawaqanitawase’s huge intercept, the momentum swing that changed the game and why the Roosters were ultimately too strong.

With the Grand Final set, Adrian and Tim go head-to-head on how Newcastle and the Roosters can win it, while Boldo gives the neutral view and his prediction.

And finally, we go back through the receipts from 2026 — the panel’s predictions from earlier in the season, who nailed the big calls, who got them horribly wrong and who did the most flip-flopping.

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Does the NRL have a refereeing problem?

This week on Down the Sideline, we break down the biggest controversial calls from Roosters v Sharks and Knights v Warriors, including the missed Tyson Frizell escort, the DCE sin-bin debate and the growing frustration around six-again calls.

We also review Newcastle’s win over the Warriors, look back at the Roosters ending Cronulla’s season, and Boldo gives his verdict on whether the Sharks’ 2026 campaign was a success or a failure.

Then we turn our attention to the preliminary finals, including Roosters v Dolphins, the keys to victory for each side, the finals kick-off time debate, tips and our upset alert.

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