Grand Final: Warriors player ratings

Shaun Johnson had one of the best grand final performances by a losing player. Photo / Getty Images

Player ratings for the NRL grand final between the Sea Eagles and Warriors at ANZ Stadium on Sunday.

WARRIORS

1. Kevin Locke - Showed no signs of nerves. Confident under high kicks and always looked dangerous with the ball. 8/10.

2. Bill Tupou - Ran well from dummy half and reacted well in defence before making an early exit after a head clash with Steve Matai. 5.

3. Lewis Brown - Glenn Stewart, Daly Cherry-Evans and Jamie Lyon gave him a constant headache down the left. Made some good decisions and some bad. 7.

4. Krisnan Inu - Didn't take a backward step against Steve Matai, made a brilliant run in the second half, but his hands let him down. 6.

5. Manu Vatuvei - The Beast's acrobatic try matched Hopoate's flick pass in an epic wing battle. 7.

6. James Maloney - Battled hard but needed to kick better - both for goal and in general play. 6.

7. Shaun Johnson - Engineered the comeback in one of the best grand final performances by a losing player. His work in the Vatuvei try was magic from the Benji clone. 9.

15. Russell Packer - Ran hard and matched the Sea Eagles up front in a brutal opening period. 6.

14. Lance Hohaia - Didn't get enough space or field position to attack out of dummy half. 5.

10. Jacob Lillyman - Was the Warriors' best forward in the opening 20 minutes, charging the ball up fearlessly. 7.

17. Elijah Taylor - Even though he was playing out of position, his game lifted when he moved to centre after Tupou left the field. Scored a try. 7.

12. Simon Mannering (c) - Courageous performance from the skipper, but would have loved to have taken an offload from Locke at a crucial stage in the second half. 7.

13. Micheal Luck - Got through his normal truckload of tackling. 7.

Interchange:
8. Sam Rapira - Wasn't quite able to match the intensity of the starting props. 5.

9. Aaron Heremaia - Looked dangerous when he came on, copped a cheap shot from George Rose. 5.

11. Feleti Mateo - Made an instant impact when he came on, but unfortunately his teammates started to tire around him as halftime approached. Big second half. 7.

16. Ben Matulino - Lazy defence opened the gap for Brett Stewart to score the first try. 5.

SEA EAGLES

1. Brett Stewart - A threat to the Warriors throughout the first half, showed tremendous footwork to score the Sea Eagles' opening try. 7/10

2. Michael Robertson - Mr reliable, signed off his Manly career with a premiership and the final conversion, his tremendous run set up the crucial try for Cherry-Evans on the stroke of halftime. 7

3. Jamie Lyon - Fine performance from the captain, strong in defence, scored the final try and kicked three goals. 8

4. Steve Matai - Usual tenacious performance from the powerful Kiwi, who exchanged several huge hits with Krisnan Inu. Finished the game with stitches following a sickening head clash with Bill Tupou. 6

5. Will Hopoate - Had a try chalked off in the first half, then produced a stunning one-handed pass to set up Glenn Stewart's four-pointer. Manly will sorely miss him for the next two years. 8

6. Kieran Foran - Excellent in defence and was unlucky to have a try ruled out by the officials in the second half. 7

7. Daly Cherry-Evans - A great talent. Old head on young shoulders, scored the vital try on the stroke of halftime, kicking game up there with the best in the NRL - all in his first season. 8

8. Joe Galuvao - Second grand final win for the well-travelled prop. Steady Eddie performance. 6

9. Matt Ballin - A workaholic defensive display for the Queenslander that saw him register 40 tackles as Manly held out the desperate Warriors. 7

10. Brent Kite - Worked hard and more than earned his money in a frantic final 10 minutes. 6

11. Anthony Watmough - Carried the ball for over 100 metres and was imperious in defence - a quality performance on the biggest stage. 8

12. Tony Williams - Not as involved as he has been in previous weeks. 6

13. Glenn Stewart - Showed no ill-effects from three weeks on the sidelines, scored a try, laid the foundations for Manly's second with a superb grubber-kick, and racked up 37 tackles. Worthy winner of the Clive Churchill Medal. 9

Interchange

14. Shane Rodney - Final game for the club, played his part from the bench. 6

15. Jamie Buhrer - Another of the Manly young guns with a big future, will play a bigger role in years to come. 6

16. Vic Mauro - Ran the ball well and like so many of his teammates, was forced to put his body in the line in a desperate final 10 minutes. 6

17. George Rose - Lucky to stay on the field following a vicious forearm smash to the face of the Aaron Heremaia that saw him put on report. 6

- AAP