The Sydney Roosters were forced to work incredibly hard for it by a brave Newcastle Knights side, but Trent Robinson's side have claimed the NRL premiership in a tense grand final at Homebush on Sunday evening.
From James Tedesco's vintage performance, to the Knights big effort in defence, here are all the big talking points from the contest.
Roosters forwards dominate
The Roosters forward pack will get plenty of credit for the win and rightly so.
They were never really on the back foot in the game, and while attack struggled to put it together at times, it was the forwards who ensure they had almost unlimited opportunities.
The territory count for the tri-colours finished north of 80 per cent, and while you don't put those numbers together without a complete team performance, it's the sort of effort that is started in the forwards.
Naufahu Whyte's platform was excellent, while Spencer Leniu's stint off the bench was without doubt a momentum killer for the Knights.
The Roosters didn't have a bad forward on the field, with the entire group doing the job to damage the Knights defensive line, bend it often, and dominate the play the ball speed throughout a contest that was always going to be decided in those areas.
Knights will be back in 2027
The Newcastle Knights aren't a side about to slide down the ladder. You don't play a grand final like that on emotion and then just forget all about it when you turn up next March.
The loss itself will sting for the Knights, there is no doubt about that, but in time, it will probably give way to a feeling of simply 'proud'.
I'm not a Knights fan, but that's what I would be.
That effort was like nothing this sport has ever seen before. More than 400 tackles, barely a tackle in the oppostion 20 while making more than 60 of your own, and lose by a point.
All that after qualifying through adversity, and playing the final two months of the season without your halfback recruit who is the game's most expensive player.
The Knights should never have made the grand final. They should never have been in the match on paper. And then, when it played the way it did, they probably should have lost by 60.
James Tedesco is still the game's best fullback
James Tedesco won the Clive Churchill Medal, and really, there was no one else it could have been.
I certainly would have heard arguments for Naufahu Whyte or Mark Nawaqanitawase, but Tedesco played the ultimate captain's knock during the contest.
Forget the fact he ended up with a staggering metre count - nearly 400 - for a second.
He was in absolutely everything at both ends of the park. Fantastic in defence, coming up with some big plays at the end of the game in particular when the lungs would have been burning, and putting together plays in the lead-up to tries.
The Roosters attack wasn't at all free flowing during the game, but if we wrote about Dane Gagai seemingly having the ability to pause time last weekend, it wouldn't be fair to not say similar about Tedesco.
Knights second-row will be key next year
If there was a bright spot in attack for the Knights, it was their second-row.
They didn't have enormous, consistent impact over the game, but when they did pop up, they always looked like they were going to be a threat.
It'll in fact be one of Justin Holbrook's big headaches next year. Who plays out of the returning Dylan Lucas, Francis Manuleleua and Jermaine McEwen.
The Knights duo's performmance in the grand final is made all the more impressive by their relative lack of experience, but also the fact they were up against the dangerous duo of Siua Wong and Salesi Foketi.
Do the Roosters have a concern in 2027?
The Knights deserve all the credit in the world for the way they defended throughout the grand final. Of that there can be no doubt.
But it's hard to suggest the Roosters threw the kitchen sink at them in attack.
The Roosters are the premiers, and right now, that's all that matters, but a lot of their attack this year has seemingly featured an attacking game plan of "kick it to Mark Nawaqanitawase and see what happens".
Ultimately, that was the way the grand final played out. The first half was something of a disaster for the Roosters at that end of the park.
They managed to make it work enough in the second half to get over the line but with Nawaqanitawase off to rugby union next year, the Roosters need to find a new game plan.
I'm loathe to call it a concern at this stage, but Sam Walker is going to very quickly find out his price tag next year when Daly Cherry-Evans gone, Nawaqanitawase gone, and Tedesco a year older.
Phoenix Crossland proved his worth to Newcastle
Without disrespecting the enormous work ethic of Harrison Graham once he got on the park during the grand final, and indeed the performance of Thomas Cant during the first 20 minutes, the Knights really missed the work of Phoenix Crossland.
There is no dispute he should have been suspended for the hip drop tackle on Nathan Cleary last weekend, but the Sydney Roosters were ultimately the ones who benefited from it.
Whether is ultimately a better system that can be worked out is well beyond my pay grade, but the Roosters made the Knights pay for their ruck service and attacking intent from behind the play the ball.
Again, Graham did a good job, but he is not Phoenix Crossland, who has really become one of the NRL's most reliable dummy halves in recent years.
That's not to say the Knights would have won if he played, but in a one-point game where they had to get through a mountain of defence - well, who knows.
