Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
How to tune into Sport NationGrand Final teams: Broncos' cult hero axed
Sam Kosack • September 30th, 2025 7:01 pm
Brisbane Broncos train-and-trial hero Ben Talty has been axed by Michael Maguire in a shock grand final omission.
With Pat Carrigan returning from suspension, Michael Maguire has opted to keep utility Tyson Smoothy in the seventeen after a standout effort filling in for Carrigan against the Panthers.
Talty joined the Broncos mid-season on a train-and-trial in June and has become a regular off the bench, playing 10 games and scoring three tries.
The 26-year-old spent pre-season with the Melbourne Storm, joining them on their army camp in pre-season, before starting the season with the North Sydney Bears.
Talty has been named at 20th man, with the versatility of Tyson Smoothy preferred by Michael Maguire.
Smoothy is on the bench with Xavier Willison, Kobe Hetherington, and Ezra Mam, who has been left on the bench for the second consecutive week after returning from injury via the bench in the preliminary final.
It means Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds will start in the halves, making them the oldest halves pairing in NRL history as Hunt equals the last Broncos’ premiership captain, Darren Lockyer’s, record for third-most games played in NRL history on 355.
