Play continued and then concluded with dramatic scenes as the Panthers sealed their four-peat, going one better than the great Parramatta side of the 1980s. Becoming the best since St George’s 11 straight more than half a century ago.

Ivan Cleary felt this latest achievement “validates everything that we’ve done and we’ve tried to become”, while his son described the win as mind-blowing.

“Looking around and seeing four [premiership] rings, it’s honestly crazy,” Nathan Cleary said. “It was four years ago we were out here playing that same team. They’ve been the benchmark for so long. To then go four straight, it’s honestly unbelievable.”

And it was, in a way, fitting that Melbourne had made the mould for Penrith, molten from that 2020 grand final defeat, ready to pour themselves into any vessel capable of solidifying motivation into the kind of consistency that had run all over them in the first half at this venue those four years ago.

As the Storm’s forward pack softened their opponents into submission that night, they would have known little of the monster they were creating. That they were, in fact, laying the foundations for a level of success unprecedented in the salary-cap era. More immediately they were inspiring a second-half comeback that almost got the Panthers over the line but not quite.

What relevance - if any - would those crucial, galvanising moments hold this time around? How did those convulsions which shook the NRL hierarchy affect the Storm, and what were they going to do about it?

As it turned out, weather Penrith’s early assault and wait for a moment to present itself. Shut down a promising tackle bust from Jarome Luai, save a would-be Isaah Yeo try right on their line and send Cameron “he’ll want to take my head off and vice versa” Munster after Martin at every opportunity.

So frenetic and short on stoppages were the opening 20 minutes that even Dylan Edwards was breathing up, and both coaches went to their interchange to give big men Moses Leota and Tui Kamikamica a break.

Something had to give, and it was Harry Grant who gave it good. It happened in the 22nd minute, off the back of a Melbourne strip penalty and unexpected attacking set. Shawn Blore drew two defenders with the hit-up on the 10m line and the Storm captain went to work, dummying to the non-existent players around him, stepping around James Fisher-Harris and blazing through Martin before taking on the line.

The moment felt symbolic. Here was this new generation of Storm stars trying to do the big thing for the first time since a pretty significant retirement. And there was an imaginary hologram of Cameron Smith, hovering in his supernatural state over Grant, whispering “fill your boots son - actually, fill my boots”.

But even as Nick Meaney nailed his conversion, the statistics said the Panthers had already had far too much possession for this to be the end of it. The shift occurred within the following four minutes, as Melbourne defended a third consecutive set on their line and Nathan Cleary began to make himself known.

The halfback funnelled the ball to Alamoti, who caught and spun in one motion and concluded his pirouette with a flourish of a pass to send Sunia Turuva diving over at the left corner. Cleary skewed his touchline conversion a smidge wide but the miss did not stop him setting to work, in the last minute before the break, receiving from Luai, carrying the ball towards the line and then slipping Martin through on the right.

Cleary did not miss this time and the Panthers went to the sheds with a four-point buffer they built on after half-time, relentless through the middle as Melbourne’s big four heaved under the pressure.

“They were too good for us,” Bellamy said. “They really know what they’re good at, and they stick to it. They’re relentless at doing what they know works for them … we didn’t get into our plan for long enough periods.”

And after the controversy and spite unfolded, once full-time whistle blew, this half a decade came into full view. There will be no question about Penrith’s dynasty, and no need to share this dominant era with their interstate rivals. As the departing Luai said after the game: “Left on a good note, brah.”

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