"It doesn't get any better than that. What we have just witnessed in the last five minutes, it doesn't get any better. It's a fairytale".

That's not the Channel Nine commentary from North Queensland's historic grand final win on Sunday night.  It's from Newcastle's epic premiership triumph in 1997 after Andrew Johns sent Darren Albert racing over for a try to snatch victory with just six seconds remaining on the clock.

The reaction of almost stunned disbelief was similar after Johnathan Thurston rode the Cowboys home at ANZ Stadium to spark comparisons between him and Johns and debate over whether North Queensland's win was the greatest in grand final history.

The parallels between the Cowboys 17-16 golden point win over Brisbane and Newcastle's 22-16 defeat of Manly are uncanny and many of us who witnessed both could argue forever about which was the better grand final without ever deciding conclusively.

However, most would agree that those two and Canberra's extra time win over Balmain in 1989 rank as the top three grand finals of the modern era.

Besides their grandstand finishes, each was also significant in that they were the first premiership wins by expansion teams - with the Raiders entering the competition in 1981, Newcastle in 1988 and North Queensland in 1995 - and the players were representing not only their clubs but entire regions.

It was reflected in the desperation in which each of those teams played and the scenes of sheer joy after they won. 

Watching the way the Cowboys kept coming at the Broncos in the closing stages of Sunday night's grand final, there was a sense of destiny when Thurston screamed for the ball with nine seconds of regular time remaining and deja vu when winger Kyle Feldt crossed out wide as the clock ran down.

Like the Knights of 1997, the Cowboys had received an emotional farewell from Townsville as thousands of fans lined the route to the airport last Thursday to cheer the team as they headed to Sydney for the grand final.

The players channelled that support and North Queensland coach Paul Green spoke afterwards about the importance of the win for a region where people are effected by an economic downturn.

"Some of the farmers have been doing it tough up there and we have finally brought a premiership to North Queensland," Green said.

Knights players had visited picket lines set up by striking Hunter Valley coal miners in the week leading up to the grand final and new Cowboys chief executive Greg Tonner last week compared North Queensland to Newcastle before their win.

"We don't have a lot to celebrate," Tonner told Fairfax Media.."It's been a really tough five years. Socially [rugby league] has a connection. We are in drought. It might give people energy to keep going and break out with new ideas. It will lift everyone. With an economy that is struggling, not only does it bring hope, our success is building confidence."

The Newcastle players did not want to let their region down and just as Johns carried the weight of the Hunter on his back, Thurston was the man everyone in North Queensland was looking to if the team was to become the 13th NRL team to enjoy premiership success.

In a further comparison, Johns had gone into the 1997 grand final with a rib injury, while Thurston had to overcome groin and calf problems to play against Brisbane - although there was never any doubt he would.

Both also hit the upright as they attempted to break a 16-16 deadlock - Thurston with the sideline conversion of Feldt's try and Johns with a field goal after Robbie O'Davis had scored in the 76th minute.

Just as the 1997 decider looked set to go into extra time, Johns jumped into dummy half on the last play of the match and raced down a narrow blindside before passing inside to an unmarked Albert.

Thurston had to wait another two minutes before kicking his extra time field goal but the result and the reaction were the same.