'Just trust me': Hufanga delivers on vow to send Broughton off in style

Broncos centre Mele Hufanga told Warriors-bound five-eighth Gayle Broughton that she would send her off with a premiership before charging over for the winning try an epic 22-18 grand final triumph against Sydney Roosters.

Hufanga won the Karyn Murphy Medal after a powerhouse performance in which she scored a try, carried the ball for a game high 199 metres from 16 runs and produced two line-breaks, a line-break assist and a record 17 tackle breaks.

After leading 12-0 at halftime, the Broncos conceded three tries in eight minutes before interchange forward Shalom Sauaso scored in the 61st minute.

As the clock wound down towards fulltime, with Brisbane still trailing 18-16 after secondrower Romy Teitzel missed the conversion, Hufanga demanded Broughton give her the ball and she powered over to score. 

“When it came down to the last four minutes and we were in their 20m zone, I was just telling Gayle, ‘Gayle, I want the ball, I want the ball’," Hufanga said.

"I knew Gayle was cooked then but I said, ‘just trust me’, and I ran. As soon as the ball touched my hand, I was going to get over that try line."

Superstar fullback Tamika Upton, who now has five premiership rings after winning three grand finals with Brisbane and two with Newcastle, said Hufanga was constantly calling for the ball throughout the match.

"It's insane how she breaks tackles firstly, but like she said all game she was waiting for that moment. I could hear her chatting, Meeks, it's on out here. Meeks, I'm on, I'm on'.

"She was asking for it all game and it wasn't just a fluke what she did. She wanted that moment and she delivered."

It was the type of performance that Brisbane coach Scott Prince knew Hufanga was capable of producing and she delivered on the NRLW's biggest day before a crowd of 46288 at Accor Stadium.

“Mele has been building throughout the year, it was through hard work and she has been a bit of project for the last three years," Prince said.

"We know that she is definitely the premier centre in the comp, it was just a matter of her believing that herself.

"To do that on the big stage, to walk away a champion and pick up player of the match, she has worked extremely hard for it, and she deserves everything that she gets."

Hufanga credited a gruelling pre-season for her starring performance and said it was the fittest she had been since joining the NRLW in the wake of a break-out 2022 World Cup campaign with the Kiwi Ferns.

“Pre-season is always tough but I am grateful that I went through that journey because I am a champion now," she said.

"I wasn’t my fittest the last two years but this year, pre-season took me to a dark spot, and I am glad I went through that because without that pre-season I wouldn’t be where I am now."

The Warriors confirmed after the grand final that Broughton would be returning to New Zealand to join the club next season but Hufanga hopes to play with the Olympic gold medallist again at next year's World Cup.

“She is an amazing player, and I feel like in the last two or three years we have built a really strong relationship, not only on the field but off the field," Hufanga said. "We absolutely trust each other, she is amazing."