# 2023 NRL finals series

The 2023 National Rugby League finals series was a tournament staged to determine the winner of the 2023 Telstra Premiership season. The series was played over four weekends in September and October, culminating in the 2023 NRL Grand Final on 1 October 2023 won by the Penrith Panthers.
The top eight teams from the 2023 NRL season qualified for the finals series. The NRL finals series have been continuously played under this format since 2012.

## Qualification
### Ladder

2023 NRL seasonvte :
| Pos | Team | Pld | W | D | L | B | PF | PA | PD | Pts |
| 1 | Penrith Panthers (P) | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 645 | 312 | +333 | 42 |
| 2 | Brisbane Broncos | 24 | 18 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 639 | 425 | +214 | 42 |
| 3 | Melbourne Storm | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 627 | 459 | +168 | 38 |
| 4 | New Zealand Warriors | 24 | 16 | 0 | 8 | 3 | 572 | 448 | +124 | 38 |
| 5 | Newcastle Knights | 24 | 14 | 1 | 9 | 3 | 626 | 451 | +175 | 35 |
| 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 24 | 14 | 0 | 10 | 3 | 619 | 497 | +122 | 34 |
| 7 | Sydney Roosters | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 472 | 496 | −24 | 32 |
| 8 | Canberra Raiders | 24 | 13 | 0 | 11 | 3 | 486 | 623 | −137 | 32 |
| 9 | South Sydney Rabbitohs | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 564 | 505 | +59 | 30 |
| 10 | Parramatta Eels | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 587 | 574 | +13 | 30 |
| 11 | North Queensland Cowboys | 24 | 12 | 0 | 12 | 3 | 546 | 542 | +4 | 30 |
| 12 | Manly Warringah Sea Eagles | 24 | 11 | 1 | 12 | 3 | 545 | 539 | +6 | 29 |
| 13 | Dolphins | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 520 | 631 | −111 | 24 |
| 14 | Gold Coast Titans | 24 | 9 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 527 | 653 | −126 | 24 |
| 15 | Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs | 24 | 7 | 0 | 17 | 3 | 438 | 769 | −331 | 20 |
| 16 | St. George Illawarra Dragons | 24 | 5 | 0 | 19 | 3 | 474 | 673 | −199 | 16 |
| 17 | Wests Tigers | 24 | 4 | 0 | 20 | 3 | 385 | 675 | −290 | 14 |

## Finals structure

The system used for the 2023 NRL finals series is a final eight system. The top four teams in the eight receive the "double chance" when they play in week-one qualifying finals, such that if a top-four team loses in the first week it still remains in the finals, playing a semi-final the next week against the winner of an elimination final. The bottom four of the eight play knock-out games – only the winners survive and move on to the next week. Home ground advantage goes to the team with the higher ladder position in the first two weeks and to the qualifying final winners in the third week.
In the second week, the winners of the qualifying finals receive a bye to the third week. The losers of the qualifying final plays the elimination finals winners in a semi-final. In the third week, the winners of the semi-finals from week two play the winners of the qualifying finals in the first week. The winners of those matches move on to the Grand Final.

## Venues

A total of seven different venues hosted matches throughout the finals series.
| Venue | Capacity | Matches Hosted | Home Team |
| AAMI Park | 30,000 | 1 | Melbourne Storm |
| Accor Stadium | 82,500 | 2 | Penrith Panthers; Grand Final |
| BlueBet Stadium | 22,500 | 1 | Penrith Panthers |
| Go Media Stadium | 30,000 | 1 | New Zealand Warriors |
| McDonald Jones Stadium | 30,000 | 1 | Newcastle Knights |
| PointsBet Stadium | 12,500 | 1 | Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks |
| Suncorp Stadium | 52,500 | 2 | Brisbane Broncos |

## Fixtures

Nine matches were played across four weeks of the finals series.
| Home | Score | Away | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information | Match Information |
| Home | Score | Away | Date and time (Local) | Venue | Referee | Crowd |
| Qualifying and Elimination Finals |||||||
| Brisbane Broncos | 26–0 | Melbourne Storm | 8 September, 7:50 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Grant Atkins | 50,157 |
| Penrith Panthers | 32–6 | New Zealand Warriors | 9 September, 4:05 pm | BlueBet Stadium | Adam Gee | 21,525 |
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 12–13 | Sydney Roosters | 9 September, 7:50 pm | PointsBet Stadium | Gerard Sutton | 12,557 |
| Newcastle Knights † | 30–28 | Canberra Raiders | 10 September, 4:05 pm | McDonald Jones Stadium | Ashley Klein | 29,548 |
| Semi Finals |||||||
| Melbourne Storm | 18–13 | Sydney Roosters | 15 September, 7:50 pm | AAMI Park | Ashley Klein | 19,534 |
| New Zealand Warriors | 40–10 | Newcastle Knights | 16 September, 6:05 pm | Go Media Stadium | Adam Gee | 26,083 |
| Preliminary Finals |||||||
| Penrith Panthers | 38–4 | Melbourne Storm | 22 September, 7:50 pm | Accor Stadium | Adam Gee | 35,578 |
| Brisbane Broncos | 42–12 | New Zealand Warriors | 23 September, 7:50 pm | Suncorp Stadium | Gerard Sutton | 52,273 |
† Match decided in extra time.

### Chart

| Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Qualifying and elimination finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Semi-finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Preliminary finals | Grand final | Grand final | Grand final |
| 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | | | | | | | | | |
| 1 | Penrith | 32 | | | | | | | | | |
| 4 | New Zealand | 6 | 16 September – Auckland | 16 September – Auckland | 16 September – Auckland | | | | |
| | | | New Zealand | New Zealand | 40 | | | | |
| 10 September – Newcastle | 10 September – Newcastle | 10 September – Newcastle | Newcastle | Newcastle | 10 | 22 September – Sydney | 22 September – Sydney | 22 September – Sydney | | | |
| 5 | Newcastle | 30 | | | | Penrith | Penrith | 38 | |
| 8 | Canberra | 28 | | | | Melbourne | Melbourne | 4 | 1 October – Sydney | 1 October – Sydney | 1 October – Sydney |
| | | | | | | | | | Penrith | Penrith | 26 |
| 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | 9 September – Sydney | | | | 23 September – Brisbane | 23 September – Brisbane | 23 September – Brisbane | Brisbane | Brisbane | 24 |
| 6 | Cronulla-Sutherland | 12 | | | | Brisbane | Brisbane | 42 | | |
| 7 | Sydney | 13 | 15 September – Melbourne | 15 September – Melbourne | 15 September – Melbourne | New Zealand | New Zealand | 12 | | |
| | | | Melbourne | Melbourne | 18 | | | | | | |
| 8 September – Brisbane | 8 September – Brisbane | 8 September – Brisbane | Sydney | Sydney | 13 | | | | | |
| 2 | Brisbane | 26 | | | | | | | | | |
| 3 | Melbourne | 0 | | | | | | | | |

## Matches
### First Week: Qualifying and Elimination Finals

* 8 September 2023 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)
| Brisbane Broncos | 26 – 0 | Melbourne Storm |
* Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Attendance: 50,197 Referee: Grant Atkins
* 9 September 2023 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)
| Penrith Panthers | 32 – 6 | New Zealand Warriors |
* BlueBet Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 21,525 Referee: Adam Gee
* 9 September 2023 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)
| Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks | 12 – 13 | Sydney Roosters |
* PointsBet Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 12,557 Referee: Gerard Sutton
* 10 September 2023 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)
| Newcastle Knights | 30 – 28 | Canberra Raiders |
* McDonald Jones Stadium, Newcastle Attendance: 29,548 Referee: Ashley Klein

### Second Week: Semi Finals

* 15 September 2023 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)
| Melbourne Storm | 18 – 13 | Sydney Roosters |
* AAMI Park, Melbourne Attendance: 19,534 Referee: Ashley Klein
* 10 September 2023 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)
| New Zealand Warriors | 40 – 10 | Newcastle Knights |
* Go Media Stadium, Auckland Attendance: 26,083 Referee: Adam Gee

### Third Week: Preliminary Finals

* 22 September 2023 16:05 AEST (UTC+10)
| Penrith Panthers | 38 – 4 | Melbourne Storm |
* Accor Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 35,578 Referee: Adam Gee
* 23 September 2023 19:50 AEST (UTC+10)
| Brisbane Broncos | 42 – 12 | New Zealand Warriors |
* Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane Attendance: 52,273 Referee: Gerard Sutton

## Grand final

* 1 October 2023 19:30 AEDT
| Penrith Panthers | 26–24 | Brisbane Broncos |
| Tries: 4 Kenny 17' Leota 62' Crichton 67' Cleary 76' Goals: 5 Crichton 1/1 18' Cleary 4/4 pen 29', 63', 68', 78' | 1st: 8–6 2nd: 18–18 Report | Tries: 4 Flegler 38' Mam 44', 52', 54' Goals: 4 Reynolds 4/4 39', 45', 53', 56' |
* Accor Stadium, Sydney Attendance: 81,947 Referee: Adam Gee Bunker: Ashley Klein Touch judges: Chris Sutton, Dave Munro Clive Churchill Medal: Nathan Cleary