- Read below to recap all the finals action as it happened.
In a year where there's been a lot of talk about the best Royals players of the past 75 years, several of the 2024 line-up put up their hands yesterday saying add my name to the list.
The proud Canberra club celebrated their 75th anniversary this year and there's no better way to cap it off than with a premiership.
Royals beat arch rivals Tuggeranong Vikings 34-19 yesterday to claim the John I Dent trophy, their first since 2020.
The final siren went, hundreds of Royals fans stormed the field, one gentleman brandishing a crown, cape and toy sword. What a knight it's going to be.
Royals centre Jarrah McLeod won man-of-the-match, and rightly so. He was solid for the whole game, shutting down Viking's Jo Wadman who starred the last time they played.
McLeod is a proud Yuin man from the South Coast who came to Canberra to join the Brumbies Academy program.
"Jarrah played out of his skin today," said Royals' flanker Liam Bowron, who was one of his team's best.
"Every time we needed it Jarrah would make the advantage or a line break to get us on the front foot. He really got us moving when we needed it."
Royal's Rory Scott was also full of praise for McLeod.
"He's strong and fast and he really stamped himself on that game."
It was a game punctuated by a lot of stoppages and this never allowed either side to find much flow in attack. McLeod set up the ageless Pedro Rolando for Royals' last try in the dying minutes to seal the result in a play that stood out.
Vikings toiled hard all game. They suffered from having to play Brumbies halfback Ryan Lonergan out of position. He slotted into the 10 jersey but was notably absent.
It wasn't the way Darcy Swain wanted to go out. In his last game in Canberra before he heads to the Western Force, Swain was a little nostalgic about his time with the club.
"It wasn't the way I wanted to go out but I have so many good memories here," Swain said.
"I've made so many friends and had so many good times living in the Vikings' share houses.
"The Vikings club has been a big part of my life and I wish we had a better ending but Royals were the better team on the day."
Women's premiers
It was a dominant display from the Tuggeranong Vi-Queens, winning 44-5 against Uni North Owls. Tijana Zdravevska scored two tries in the eight try rout. Tabua Tuinakauvadra scored a try and was one of Vi-Queens best before she heads off the Ireland with the Wallaroos later in the week.
AFL Canberra
Queanbeyan Tigers booked a place in the grand final with a win against Ainslie. They won 9.10 (64) to 8.6 (54). Aidan Bowyer, Anthony Lo Pilato and Jack Nunn were among the Tigers' best.
Ainslie will play the winner of the elimination semi-final on Sunday, with Eastlake up against Belconnen.
Grand final day may save Hayley's life. But only if she finds 'a needle in the haystack'
The Canberra rugby community is being urged to rally behind one of their own on a potential life-saving search on grand final day at Viking Park on Saturday.
And even though most of Hayley's family are Tuggeranong Vikings rugby supporters through and through but if she needs to have Royals' blood in her veins after Saturday's grand final she won't mind at all.
Hayley, who asked for her surname to be anonymous, was diagnosed with B-Cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia in 2020 and spent three years in remission. Now she needs another stem cell transplant.
With only 0.2 per cent of the eligible population currently registered as blood stem cell donors, Australia's registry is in desperate need of young and healthy donors. So what better place to find them than at a sporting event?
Calling on their Brumbies rugby community connections, Hayley's family have organised for a swab testing site to be set up at Viking Park on Saturday.
If you're keen to join the registry - and hopefully be a match for Hayley - it's as simple as completing an online form and giving an oral swab.
The testing site will be run by health professionals from the Australian Bone Marrow Donor Registry's Strength to Give program.
"Finding a suitable match for a stem cell transplant is like finding a needle in a haystack," Hayley said.
"A match is not as simple as being related or sharing the same blood type, but instead it is based on having very similar genetic makeup."
Donors have to be aged between 18 and 30, hold a valid Medicare card and be willing to donate anonymously to any patient in the world. Every year about 1000 Australians seek donors but only half discover a match within their family. The rest need volunteer donors.
"The chances you ever get the call to be a donor are pretty low," says Hayley, "but if you do, you will have the opportunity to save someone's life by donating your stem cells."
The site will be located near the scoreboard at Viking Park, so make sure you drop in on the way to your game.
Imagine a win, and saving someone's life. Register at strengthtogive.org.au/brumbies.
