Roosters v Knights: battlegrounds for the 2026 NRL grand final at Accor Stadium
The Sydney Roosters will face the Newcastle Knights in the 2026 NRL grand final at Accor Stadium on Sunday, the one match that will decide the premiership after a season spanning 210 games, 17,000 minutes and more than 10,000 points.
Two contrasting narratives meet in Sydney: the Roosters arrive as a star-studded outfit with four premierships in 25 years and a 16-8 record that earned fourth place, while Newcastle travel as 25-years-without-a-title underdogs who scraped into the finals in seventh with a 14-10 ledger after receiving the wooden spoon in 2025.
The Roosters’ finals path has included a heavy 20-50 loss to South Sydney in the final round — and no side has won the NRL title after such a belting — before a 12-19 defeat to Penrith in their first final. They recovered to beat Cronulla 46-10 and then defeated the Dolphins 36-20 at Suncorp, benefiting from an extra day’s rest and entering their 13th finals campaign under Trent Robinson’s 14 years in charge.
Newcastle have taken the longer route, winning three consecutive away finals: 20-10 over the Rabbitohs at Allianz, 12-10 against the Warriors at Eden Park and a 22-14 triumph over Penrith where they defended with 12 men for 44 minutes. Those three boilovers in enemy territory have built momentum but, the report notes, the emotion of them may have drained the Knights ahead of the decider; an estimated 70,000 Novacastrians are expected to travel to Accor Stadium on Sunday.
Head-to-head form favours the Roosters, who have beaten the Knights in their last six meetings and 20 of the past 23. In April they overturned a 12-24 half-time deficit to win 38-24 courtesy of a five-try second-half blitz that included a double from Mark Nawaqanitawase; a July rematch finished 23-22 after Daly Cherry-Evans kicked a field goal in the 77th minute.
Key personnel and statistics shape the match-up: Newcastle have averaged 25 points scored and 23 leaked this season under Justin Holbrook, led by captain Kalyn Ponga, who averages 17 runs a game and has developed a strong on-field link with local playmaker Fletcher Sharpe. For the Roosters, James Tedesco averages 19 charges per game while Mark Nawaqanitawase, in 46 appearances, has scored 45 tries and will play his last NRL game before rejoining rugby union; Dominic Young remains a direct threat for the Knights.
Selection notes further influence the contest: Newcastle will be without Phoenix Crossland, suspended for a hip-drop tackle on 2026 Dally M winner Nathan Cleary last week, and also miss marquee man Dylan Brown, while the Roosters are full-strength after welcoming Sam Walker back from injury last week. The match-up between Walker and Knights pocket rocket Sandon Smith is framed in the preview as a "flyweight bout with heavyweight consequences."
The single game on Sunday at Accor Stadium will determine the 2026 NRL premiership. The Roosters arrive as favourites with experience and star power, but Newcastle’s sequence of finals upsets and travelling support make them a genuine threat to "crash" what many expect to be Sydney’s party.