Social media is an incubator for Monday's experts and conspiracy theorists. This doozy had a foot in both camps and was exposed as utter madness on grand final day, when they were brutally taken down by the Melbourne Storm.

The core idea was that with Scott and Thurston absent, others had grown in stature far more than would otherwise have been the case. Scott Bolton fitted the bill upfront and of course Michael Morgan, who flourished when given the keys to Paul Green's side as Thurston sat out the second half of the season with a shoulder injury.

Neither could do much against the Storm on Sunday. And after being, well, flogged on the grand stage, most of the talk has rightly revolved around whether Melbourne's iconic fullback Billy Slater would stay on for a new season, or how anybody intends to hobble one of the most dominant teams of the modern era.

The praise flowed freely and even with Cooper Cronk taking his leave, two-thirds of the Big Three remains far better than none at all. With Slater all but certain to return and Smith playing like an ageless cybernetic organism, they will enter 2018 as the benchmark, the champions and near favourites to repeat the dose.

Most of the hyperbole wasn't far from the mark. Comparisons were made to the Dragons teams of the '50s and '60s, the Eels of the early 1980s and the Broncos of the early 1990s. This lot would be a handful for all of them and The Firm of Slater, Cronk and Smith has still to find a side they can't forensically pick apart, or just blow to bits.

Yet winning twice has been an impossibility in the NRL era. Brisbane were the last team to do so in 1992-93 (NSWRL). And for all of Melbourne's virtues, it will be the team that suffered so badly at their hands on Sunday that sits poised to go one better in 2018.

The Cowboys ran out of tickets in the grand final but prior to that, had made their way from eighth by dispatching Cronulla, Parramatta and the Roosters, all of whom were given reasonable chances of going all the way.

All of this was achieved without their two best players, a scenario that would have sunk virtually every other team. While top-tier rivals such as the Roosters have signed big names like James Tedesco, the Cowboys now get a pair of hungry, motivated stars back on the roster. You don't recruit better than that.

For a moment, it seemed as if Scott would parachute in to help save the day. Despite missing the entire season with a knee injury, he was named in the squad by Green, as much for motivation as being a genuine prospect of taking the field.

Like Thurston, he was a constant around the club all season, spending most of it in the rooms and the coaching box. Absence can tend to dull the memories but should he return to his top form, Scott will quickly climb the ranks to once again being the dominant prop in the game. He remains, when fit, a walk-up start for the Maroons and the Kangaroos.

Thurston was burning to be out there. He spoke to the team after the game, telling them to remember the unrivalled sting, the punch to the guts that knocked the breath from their bodies. This time next year, he no doubt believes, he will be out there with them to go one better. What JT wants, JT usually gets, even in his twilight years.

No Origin for Thurston means he will focus his singular determination on bringing another title to the tropics. He remains just short of being an actual God in those parts, only just mind you, and should he take them all the way, sweet baby Jesus will be out of a job north of Bundaberg.

Along for the ride will be key signing Jordan McClean, who was immense for the Storm in the grand final and beat Roosters and Maroons prop Dylan Napa for a spot in the Australian World Cup squad. A huge, youthful body to complement Scott and Bolton, he will give the Cowboys unrivalled quality throughout their pack.

With Morgan being freed up as teams deal with Thurston and Jason Taumalolo trampling people for fun, there's a good bet you saw both the 2017 premiers and the 2018 premiers in action at ANZ Stadium.

The Roosters will likely have something to say. Tedesco adds zip and attack at fullback and most of their other building blocks are already in place. But the Cowboys have already accounted for them in the finals and look to be the team with the most upside given the quality of their inclusions.

Younger sides such as Parramatta and Penrith were exposed in the finals but should take further strides. Still, youth brings an uncertainty that seasoned rivals Melbourne, North Queensland and Brisbane have long left behind. On the Broncos, they huffed and puffed in 2017 and do get Jack Bird, an intriguing signature who might be their missing link.

But should Melbourne take even half a step back to the pack, it will be the Cowboys, back bristling with their full complement of weaponry, that are best placed to end the Storm's reign as undisputed champions.

To beat greatness, you need some greatness of your own. If Smith and Slater remain at the peak of their powers, Thurston may be the only viable roadblock the game can put in their way.