Possessing a top-notch halfback is usually a prerequisite for winning a premiership; few teams in the mandatory grand final era have taken out the title without a representative-quality No.7.
But premiership favourites Melbourne Storm have entrusted Jonah Pezet with the linchpin role for the 2025 finals, making just his 18th NRL appearance (and only his second in the starting line-up this season) in their qualifying final win over Canterbury Bulldogs.
The slick 22-year-old playmaker will join the hallowed ranks of unheralded grand final-winning halfbacks in he helps steer the Storm to the title.
Ray Mason (South Sydney)
Rabbitohs half Mason played just 35 top-grade games – and three of them were premiership deciders.
Mason scored a try in Souths’ 42-14 grand final drubbing of Manly, which was just his third appearance in first grade. He also lined up in the 1953 premiership final win over St George and the first mandatory grand final in 1954, a 23-15 win over Newtown.
He would play just two more games in the top flight with former Test halfback Col Donohoe arriving from Easts in 1955.
George Evans (St George)
One of the lower-profile regular members of the Dragons’ run of 11 consecutive premierships, rugby union convert Evans succeed Test halfback Bobby Bugden and won a grand final in just his fifth top-grade game in 1962.
Evans went on to feature in the Saints’ next three grand final wins, keeping Billy Smith in the centres. Smith, who played five Tests for Australia at halfback in 1964-65, finally took the St George No.7 jersey from Evans in 1966.
Ivan Jones (South Sydney)
Queenslander Jones moved to Souths in 1965 and played in the club’s grand final loss to St George in front of a record SCG crowd that year.
Jones went on to feature in the Rabbitohs’ 1967-68 grand final wins, but he was on the outer in 1969 with Bob Grant pairing in the halves with Dennis Pittard and linked with Wests in 1970 – where he managed just one game.
John Bailey (St George)
Mark Shulman is one of the great hard-luck stories in grand final history, usurping club legend Billy Smith for the St George No.7 jersey in 1977 before suffering a career-ending injury in the drawn grand final against Parramatta.
John Bailey, who lost his five-eighth spot in the Dragons’ line-up mid-season, was recalled at halfback for the grand final replay – a 22-0 victory in which he was awarded a penalty try.
It would the 39th and last first-grade appearance for future Wests coach Bailey, who played in the 1975 grand final loss to Easts in just his fifth game.
Steve Martin (Manly)
Wagga product Martin arrived at Manly in 1978 and was shuffled around a star-studded line-up, from the bench, to five-eighth, halfback and back to centre again.
An injury to Johnny Gibbs during the finals saw 21-year-old ‘Whiz’ step back into the No.7, helping steer the Sea Eagles through four matches – including two replays – to a remarkable (and controversial) premiership triumph.
Martin and Gibbs were both chosen for the subsequent Kangaroo Tour. Finishing his career at Balmain, Martin later coached Norths and Souths.
Steve Morris (St George)
The last player selected for Australia from country NSW, Morris was plucked from the obscurity of the Illawarra competition to play a Test against New Zealand in 1978.
‘Slippery’ joined St George in 1979 and within 18 games had scored 14 tries, won the inaugural Dally M Medal and celebrated in a grand final victory (for which he was awarded a retrospective Clive Churchill Medal in 2008).
Morris did not represent Australia again but played two Origins for NSW and scored the Dragons’ try in the 1985 grand final loss to Canterbury after switching to the wing, before finishing his career with Easts. Twin sons Brett and Josh became esteemed internationals and NRL stalwarts during the 2000s.
Michael Hagan (Canterbury)
Brisbane product Hagan played in Canterbury’s 1985 grand final win at five-eighth in Terry Lamb’s absence and the loss to Parramatta in the 1986 decider in the centres – but he was very much in the fill-in/utility mould during his six seasons at Canterbury.
Struggling with injury in 1988 ahead of a move to Newcastle, Hagan started just one regular-season game but was pitchforked into the No.7 jersey for the finals when Steve Mortimer broke his arm. Hagan scored a try in the Bulldogs’ 24-12 defeat of Balmain Tigers in the grand final.
He captained the Knights with distinction and played five Origins for Queensland in 1989-90.
Craig Polla-Mounter (Canterbury)
Between 1978 and 2003, just one grand final-winning halfback did not represent at Origin level at some point during their career: the Bulldogs’ 1995 linchpin Polla-Mounter.
A gun rugby union halfback, Polla-Mounter switched codes with Canterbury in 1992 and partnered Terry Lamb in the 1994-95 grand finals – the latter a stunning 17-4 boilover against Manly.
Polla-Mounter would later play five-eighth alongside rookie No.7 Corey Hughes in the 1998 grand final loss to Brisbane among 192 top-grade appearances for the Bulldogs.
Shane Perry (Brisbane)
Perry produced a series of understated displays to help Brisbane to NRL glory in 2006. He had played a total of just 14 first-grade games with Western Suburbs (1999) and Canterbury (2000-01) before heading back to the relative obscurity of the Queensland Cup.
Making his debut for the Broncos as a 29-year-old in the first round of 2006 with young gun Brett Seymour falling out of favour, Perry played 20 matches in the club’s premiership charge and was superb inside skipper Darren Lockyer throughout the finals.
Perry spent two more seasons with Brisbane as an intermittent member of the first-grade line-up – essentially bumped down the pecking order by Peter Wallace’s arrival in 2008 – and joined Super League club Catalans in 2009.
Daly Cherry-Evans (Manly)
The 2011 Dally M Rookie of the Year, Cherry-Evans became the first debut-season halfback to win a grand final in 32 years when he steered Manly to a grand final victory over the Warriors.
DCE, paired with fellow tyro Kieran Foran in the halves, scored a crucial try in the 24-10 success. He later controversially won the Clive Churchill Medal in a losing team in 2013 and played a club record 352 games for the Sea Eagles.
Chad Townsend (Cronulla)
Local junior Townsend captained Cronulla to NSW Cup success in 2013 but was stuck in the first-grade queue behind Jeff Robson and Todd Carney, instead heading to the Warriors for a solid two-season stint.
Townsend returned to the Sharks in 2016, forming an all-new halves pairing with big-name buy James Maloney and helping guide the club to its maiden premiership at their first try.
Townsend’s 268-game NRL career wrapped up this season, while he remains the only non-international to wear the No.7 in a grand final victory in the past 16 years.
Jahrome Hughes (Melbourne)
Now regarded as arguably the game’s second-best No.7 behind Nathan Cleary by many, Kiwi Hughes was still a relative novice in the position when he starred in Melbourne’s 2020 grand final triumph.
Predominantly utilised at fullback in his early seasons, Hughes had a stint at halfback in 2018 and took on the role again on the eve of the 2019 finals. He settled into the position in 2020 and hasn’t looked back.