The 2002 NRL season's Grand Final took place on Sunday, 6 October 2002, at Telstra Stadium. 80,130 people saw the Sydney Roosters beat the New Zealand Warriors 30-8. The Clive Churchill Medalist was Craig Fitzgibbon of the Sydney Roosters.
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| Sydney Roosters | Position | New Zealand Warriors |
|---|---|---|
| Luke Phillips | Fullback | Ivan Cleary |
| Brett Mullins | Wing | Justin Murphy |
| Shannon Hegarty | Centre | John Carlaw |
| Justin Hodges | Centre | Clinton Toopi |
| Anthony Minichiello | Wing | Francis Meli |
| Brad Fittler | Five-Eighth | Motu Tony |
| Craig Wing | Halfback | Stacey Jones |
| Jason Cayless | Prop | Jerry Seu seu |
| Simon Bonetti | Hooker | PJ Marsh |
| Peter Cusack | Prop | Mark Tookey |
| Adrian Morley | Second-Row | Ali Lauiti'iti |
| Craig Fitzgibbon | Second-Row | Awen Guttenbeil |
| Luke Ricketson | Lock | Kevin Campion |
| Chris Flannery | Interchange | Lance Hohaia |
| Bryan Fletcher | Interchange | Logan Swann |
| Michael Crocker | Interchange | Wairangi Koopu |
| Andrew Lomu | Interchange | Richard Villasanti |
| Ricky Stuart | Coach | Daniel Anderson |
Both teams entered the cauldron of Telstra Stadium with great form heading into the contest. The Warriors had won their 2 Finals matches they had had. In Week 1 they beat the Canberra Raiders 36-20 in Auckland, before beating the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 16-10 at Telstra Stadium. The Roosters had beaten the Sharks 32-20 at the Sydney Football Stadium, then beating the Newcastle Knights in Sydney. Finally they beat the Brisbane Broncos (whom the Roosters were beaten by in the 2000 decider) in Sydney again.
The opening minutes were spent with both teams trading blows, the Roosters mainly with the upper hand. However it took till the 23rd minute for the deadlock to be broken, the Roosters scoring through Shannon Hegarty. Craig Fitzgibbon converted the try and the Sydney Roosters led 6-0. Soon, the Warriors found their rhythm and Ivan Cleary got a penalty goal to make the score 6-2 to the Roosters. It remained that way to half time, the Sydney Roosters holding the upper hand over the New Zealand Warriors.
The second half started rather differently. Within 6 minutes the New Zealand Warriors took the lead. Stacey Jones darted over and the Warriors had the lead when Ivan Cleary converted from in front for the an 6-8 score to the New Zealand Warriors. As the game approached its final quarter, a brilliant 40/20 from Roosters five-eighth and captain Brad Fittler saw the Roosters outift on the front foot again. Craig Wing crashed over, Craig Fitzgibbon converted and the Roosters had a 12-8 lead. It looked as though it was going to be a tense finish but tries to Fitzgibbon, Chris Flannery and Bryan Fletcher as well as 3 conversions from Fitzgibbon meant the Sydney Roosters ran out 30-8 victors over the New Zealand Warriors.
The Roosters' victory in the Grand Final meant that they gained the right to play in the World Club Challenge against the Super League champions for 2002. That turned out to be St Helens who beat Bradford 19-18 in their Grand Final.
The Roosters went into the Challenge making only one change in their starting lineup (Todd Byrne went on to the wing for Brett Mullins). In the end, though, it made no difference as the Sydney Roosters ran out comprehensive 0-38 champions over the Saints outfit. Tries to Craig Fitzgibbon, Adrian Morley, new input Todd Byrne, captain Brad Fittler and Todd Payten plus the 9 goals from Fitzgibbon completed a wonderful season for the Sydney Roosters.
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