The five games that defined the grand finalists' NRL seasons.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS
* Round eight
St George Illawarra 24, Roosters 8
The Roosters dropped to eighth after this convincing defeat at the hands of the Dragons on Anzac Day. Afterwards coach Trent Robinson admitted his side needed to go back to the drawing board.
* Round 16
Roosters 8 Melbourne 9
In their only meeting with Melbourne so far this year, the Roosters proved they could match it with the best. They had their hearts broken by a 79th minute Cameron Smith field goal.
* Round 23
Canberra 14 Roosters 12
Having jumped into top spot the week prior against South Sydney, the Roosters came tumbling back down to earth with defeat at the hands of Canberra, who were out of the running for the top eight.
* Round 25
Parramatta 10 Roosters 44
The Roosters went into the game with a simple equation - win by 27 points or more to claim the minor premiership. They lapped the hapless Eels in an impressive attacking display on the eve of the finals to bounce back into form and restore confidence.
* Preliminary final
Roosters 12 South Sydney 4
They put in arguably the best defensive effort of the year to win through to the grand final. Even with Cooper Cronk playing with a busted shoulder, they got the job done against the best attacking side in the comp.
MELBOURNE
* Round five
Wests Tigers 11 Storm 10
The Storm found themselves out of the eight after losing to the Tigers for the second time four weeks. Halfback Brodie Croft was dropped and didn't return to first-grade until round 17.
* Round nine
Dragons 34 Storm 14
Afterwards Craig Bellamy said the Dragons were the team to beat this year after they were comprehensively outplayed on a sunny Sunday afternoon at Kogarah.
* Round 17
Roosters 8 Storm 9
This is the first time the Storm really looked like premiership material. Their big names came to the fore with some trademark big plays. They returned to the top four and stayed there as they dropped just three games on the road to the finals.
* Round 25
Storm 16 Panthers 22
With Billy Slater missing for personal reasons and halves Cameron Munster and Brodie Croft rested, the Storm dropped the chance to claim the minor premiership.
* Semi-final
Storm 29 South Sydney 28
In what was arguably the game of the year, the Storm signalled they were the team to beat in the finals after Cameron Munster fired the side home with a 77th minute field goal.
