The Penrith Panthers won a fourth straight premiership thanks to a 14-6 win over the Melbourne Storm in the Grand Final.
The Storm, minor premiers in the regular season, had also beaten Penrith twice during the year, but in a tight tussle weren't able to keep up with the experience of the Panthers.
They are hardly the first side to fall victim to the Penrith juggernaut, but the manner in which the minor premiers were restricted was notable.
In the aftermath, pundits have marvelled at how the Panthers made a quality Storm side look slightly off the pace at times.
MORE: Panthers player ratings from 2024 GF | Storm player ratings from 2024 GF
Penrith made Melbourne look 'unfit'
Andrew Voss and Matt Russell praised the energy and endeavour of the Panthers to make a talented Melbourne team look 'unfit' at times in the Grand Final, as well as restricting the opportunities of Melbourne's star players.
"Penrith in the big game with that experience over the last three years, they just controlled it magnificently," Voss said on SEN's Breakfast with Vossy and Brandy.
"Ivan Cleary, take a bow! Turning your forwards back inside, straight down the middle against a team that had lost Nelson Asofa-Solomona; if there was a question about the forward, let's attack them through the middle and the brilliant spine won't have the platform to perform.
"The work [Nathan] Cleary, [Jarome] Luai, [Dylan] Edwards [and Isaah] Yeo constantly moving around the middle, I watched Melbourne at times and thought 'my god, they're not fit!
"They're not fit enough because Penrith gassed them. I saw Christian Welch come off the bench, and after five minutes, he was gone!"
Russell agreed, saying it was all the more remarkable given the fast and frantic nature of the first half.
"It was on target to be 75 minutes out of the 80 with ball in play... last night in the Grand Final I think it was 23 minutes out of the first 25 ball in play," he said.
He also touched on how Penrith would have learnt from their earlier losses to the Storm in 2024.
"Beating Penrith three times in one season is going to be difficult," he said, "because if any team does their homework, adjusts, and knows how to conquer what a team has used as success against them, it is Penrith, and that's the way it turned out."
