It might not have been the most exhilarating grand final in recent memory, but rugby league fans still witnessed history on Sunday night.
For when will another NRL side be graced with a Three as Big as this?
Melbourne trio Cameron Smith, Cooper Cronk and Billy Slater put on one final show together to claim this year's premiership with a 34-6 beatdown of North Queensland on Sunday.
Smith again orchestrated the ruck with consummate ease; Cronk controlled their sets with his trademark precision; while Slater continued to put the finishing touches on their plays.
The Storm fullback claimed the Clive Churchill medal by scoring a try and setting up two more as his team raced out to an 18-0 lead and were never seriously threatened thereafter.
It was a predictable performance. At the end of a predictable season.
Although it was predictable play that showed why this decider won't be forgotten too quickly.
Up by 22 with seven minutes to play at ANZ Stadium, the Storm's big three signed off one last time with their hallmark inside-outside play that has long defined their telepathic combination.
It has been a move that has followed them throughout their 14 years together at club level.
Cronk admits this one, finished off by Josh Addo-Carr, won't be forgotten quickly.
"One moment for me tonight that will live with me forever is we did one of our plays between Cameron, Billy and myself, and Billy went through," Cronk said.
"I just remember when Josh scored that try I just thought, 'that caps off a pretty fair result'."
It was a fitting way to finish what was an emotional day for a club that has appeared in a league-high seven grand finals in the NRL era but never farewelled a core member.
"There was a little bit of an emotional factor as well, which I thought if we didn't handle that well I thought that might've been a negative," coach Craig Bellamy said.
"But I thought we handled it really well and I think that turned into a positive for us."
Smith sums it up best.
"It is a really sad night for our club. Cooper's now finished," he said.
"But I couldn't have asked for a better or happier ending than what we give him tonight. I know for sure that every player that went out there tonight wanted to do that for him.
"There was times there where every one of us was fatigued and thought we couldn't get to that tackle, or that next run.
"But we wanted to get there for Coops and make sure that tonight was a special night for him.
"No matter what the result was going to be tonight, it wasn't going to change his legacy at the Melbourne Storm.
"But we certainly wanted to send him out the right way, the way that he should've gone. And that was to finish with a win and a deserved premiership."
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