Michael Ennis said he thought the dream was over. With just over 15 minutes to play, after a half of Cronulla pure domination, he saw Melbourne's Will Chambers power his way over to put the Storm in the driver's seat.
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The Storm close out games better than anyone and the retiring hooker, who left nothing in the tank in his final appearance on a rugby league field, said he couldn't help but feel the bubble beginning to burst at ANZ Stadium.
"I thought we were gone when Chambers scored," Ennis said. "But Fifita... Fifita... I can't believe it."
Andrew Fifita, Cronulla's controversial prop, would become a cult hero in the Shire with his match-winning try, capping off a brilliant performance in the 14-12 grand final victory. Luke Lewis was the official man of the match but Fifita was immense, then decisive.
"We created a heap of chances down there, Luke Lewis went through once. But the Storm are champions, they just cover and cover and cover. This is unbelievable."
The scenes on the field after the match were everything you had imagined for a club that had been through so much on its way to a maiden premiership. Paul Gallen could barely catch his breath, let alone talk.
When he did, he gushed openly about his comrades, saying he was in tears weeks ago as he watched them beat the Raiders on the way to the decider. And he was careful not to use words like 'fairytale'. The Sharks had earned this the hard way.
"I can't tell you how proud I am of these blokes. Three weeks ago I was in hospital and couldn't walk. I watched them beat Canberra. I was crying on my lounge I was so proud of them. What they did again tonight... they are the best blokes. They are so good. So good," Gallen said.
"I can believe it because of the hard work we put in... but to do this... it's awesome. I'm just so proud of them and so happy."
Gallen's great rival Cameron Smith may have been on the losing end on this occasion but only added to his legend, making a staggering 71 tackles as he put his body on the line to hold out repeated Sharks' raids.
"We weren't that good in the first half. We allowed Cronulla to have too much field position and they were just rolling through our ruck when they were coming out of their own end.
"With 15 to go, it looked like we might have the game. But they're a special footy side. They kept plugging away, they didn't panic and they deserved the win tonight."
