The Manly Sea Eagles and the Melbourne Storm have been going at it for the good-side of 20 years, building a fierce rivalry that has produced plenty of fireworks over the seasons. The two foes played back-to-back Grand Finals against each other in 2007 and 2008, a rare circumstance that has yet to be done since.
The Storm was victorious in 2007 and, quite frankly, by far the best team in the competition, who sat six-points clear in first place. They met with the second-placed Manly, who lost their star fullback Brett Stewart early, and the side wasn't able to get out of second gear, letting the Storm run rampant in a 34-8 win.
12 months later, revenge was on the Sea Eagles' mind, producing one of the most complete demolition efforts ever in a Grand Final, winning 40-0 and sending the retiring Steve Menzie off as a Grand Final-winning legend. The Sea Eagles were a much silkier attacking outfit this time round, winning all three of their finals matches with a combined result of 110-12 points.
Here are some of the best showdowns that highlight why this rivalry is so special.
5. Round 1, 2014 - Golden Point victory
Manly came out of the blocks firing after a devastating Grand Final loss in 2013, jumping out to a 20-0 lead in front of a packed Brookvale Oval with all their stars on deck. Brett Stewart, Steve Matai, Jamie Lyon, Glenn Stewart, plus more went up against the likes of Cooper Cronk, Billy Slater and Cameron Smith.
After half-time, Stewart came off the field with an injury, which was the catalyst for a second-half momentum shift by the Storm, running downhill to make it 20-a-piece with still 15 minutes to go. It remained deadlocked after a couple of penalty goals, going into 22-all in golden point, where who else other than Smith slotted a field goal 25-metres out to kick-start the Storm's campaign.
