This week, in what should’ve been the Anzac Day round, we revisit the Dragons’ 2010 grand final win over the Roosters, the Cowboys’ coming of age, plus the debut of a future rugby league legend.

We’ll also look back at how the Storm responded to the news of their salary cap scandal, which occurred this week a decade ago, as well as a drought-breaker for the Newcastle Knights in 2005.

Again I will be sticking to the originally fixtured rounds as the trip down memory lane continues between the would-be Round 7 opponents.

Semi-final, 2013: Sea Eagles 24 defeated Sharks 18 at Allianz Stadium
The Sea Eagles had come off a bruising 4-0 qualifying final loss to the Roosters and many questioned whether they still had anything left in the tank, particularly coming off a slightly shorter break than the Sharks.

Cronulla, meanwhile, remained alive after a controversial 20-18 victory over the Cowboys in which Beau Ryan scored a try on the seventh tackle, which officials later admitted should never have been awarded.

Geoff Toovey’s side dominated from the get-go, with Daly Cherry-Evans scoring one try and setting up two others from kicks.

With less than ten minutes remaining, Sharks captain Paul Gallen appeared to have scored a try that would have levelled the scores, only for teammate (and future coach) John Morris to be pinged for obstructing Matt Ballin.

Upon the try being sent to the video referee for adjudication (and later being red-lighted), Gallen could be heard saying to referee Shayne Hayne: “Are you serious? I beat five blokes.”

Manly hung on to win against a Sharks side missing five-eighth Todd Carney due to a hamstring injury, and progressed to a preliminary final against the Rabbitohs which they would win to set up a grand final showdown against the Roosters.

Round 18, 2010: Wests Tigers 15 defeated Titans 14 at Campbelltown Stadium
Five seasons had elapsed since the Tigers won the premiership, during which time they had failed to reach another finals series, but with a healthy playing list and several others in form, were on the right track in 2010.

The Titans, who were just behind the Tigers in fourth place on the ladder going into this match, dominated the first half, scoring after just two minutes, but poor ball-handling from Mat Rogers and Kevin Gordon cost them tries.

With the scores locked, Tigers five-eighth Benji Marshall launched a 50-metre field goal to put his side up 9-8 at halftime.

The second half was a tighter affair, with the scoreboard remaining idle until 13 minutes remaining when Blake Ayshford scored to extend the Tigers’ lead to 15-8.

But the Titans hit back almost immediately, through Gordon, and appeared to have stolen the match through William Zillman, only for captain Scott Prince to be pinged for a forward pass.

This ensured an unhappy return to Campbelltown for the 2005 premiership captain, with his old side emerging victorious 15-14.

Round 13, 1995: Broncos 60 defeated Eels 14 at Parramatta Stadium
This was to have been the first match between the Eels and Broncos since last year’s elimination final at Bankwest Stadium, a match which Broncos supporters will want to erase from their memories.

So instead, we’ll rewind the clock back by a quarter of a century, when Darren Lockyer made his debut for the Broncos at the old Parramatta Stadium.

The previous week, Brisbane had suffered a shock 34-18 defeat against the Illawarra Steelers at home (which, at the time, was the old QSAC, then known as ANZ Stadium) and coach Wayne Bennett responded by overhauling half of his side.

After eight games for the club’s under-19s team and two training sessions, 18-year-old Lockyer was handed his debut, though he would play 50 minutes in the preceding reserve grade game.

The Broncos were missing Australian captain Kevin Walters and trailed 14-6 at halftime, but Lockyer’s injection into the game sparked a second-half rampage.

With the scoreline reading 54-14, forward Glenn Lazarus could be heard saying to Lockyer: “It’s not that hard, is it young fella?”

Grand final, 2010: Dragons 32 defeated Roosters 8 at ANZ Stadium
The 2010 grand final was to be the culmination of a season of redemption for either the Dragons or Roosters.

St George Illawarra finished 2009 as minor premiers but crashed out of September in straight sets, while the Chooks had claimed their first wooden spoon since 1966, culminating in coach Brad Fittler’s dismissal.

Twelve months later, the Red V were in the big dance for the first time since 1999, having led the competition from Round 5 onwards, and became the first team since the Parramatta Eels that same year to concede fewer than 300 points in the season.

Meanwhile, the Roosters, with veteran coach Brian Smith and reformed Dally M Medallist Todd Carney on deck, rose from the bottom of the ladder to finish sixth at the end of the minor rounds, and advanced to their first grand final since 2004.

In their first grand final against each other since 1975, the Dragons started hot favourites to finally land the title.

Wayne Bennett’s side started brightly, with comeback centre Mark Gasnier scoring in the eighth minute to give them a 6-0 lead. However, the Roosters hit back through Braith Anasta and Mitch Aubusson for an 8-6 lead at halftime.

That lead could have been 12-8 had Carney converted either conversion; he ended up missing his only two shots for the match.

St George Illawarra then went on a procession in the second half, keeping the men from Bondi scoreless while scoring four tries of their own, including a double from Jason Nightingale, as they finally ended three decades of unrelenting disappointment with a 32-8 victory.

While this was the Dragons’ first premiership as a merged entity, it was the St George half’s first title since 1979, and the Illawarra half’s first after the Steelers failed to make the grand final during their existence from 1982 to 1998.

Darius Boyd, who had previously tasted premiership success as a teenager under Bennett at the Brisbane Broncos in 2006, complemented his second premiership with the Clive Churchill Medal as the best on ground.

The win put to rest the ‘chokers’ tag the Dragons had been carrying for most of the noughties, such was their tendency to underperform in finals matches. In fact, the Dragons’ record since the merger came into effect reads 12-13 from 25 finals matches.

Qualifying final, 2004: Cowboys 30 defeated Bulldogs 22 at Telstra Stadium
In their tenth year in the competition, the Cowboys were starting to put the right team together and previously unheard of players – such as Matthew Bowen, Ty Williams, Matt Sing, Matt Scott and Josh Hannay – were becoming household names.

A consistent season saw them qualify for the finals for the first time, finishing seventh, and under the finals system in effect at the time, they faced premiership favourites the Bulldogs at Telstra Stadium.

Canterbury had beaten the northerners twice during the regular season, in Rounds 16 and 22 at Dairy Farmers Stadium and Giants Stadium respectively, but the home side – already rocked by the absence of five-eighth Braith Anasta due to a sternum injury – suffered an early blow when their captain Steve Price was sin-binned in the 11th minute for a play-the-ball infringement in defence.

North Queensland scored two tries in his absence and took an 18-6 lead into the break.

They got on with the job in the second half, with two more tries (to the Bulldogs’ three) seeing them record a memorable 30-22 victory.

Round 7, 2010: Storm 40 defeated Warriors 6 at Etihad Stadium
This week marks a decade since the biggest controversy to hit the game since the Super League war.

On April 22, 2010, NRL CEO David Gallop announced that the Melbourne Storm had committed serious salary cap breaches between 2006-09, during which they won two premierships from four grand final appearances.

Those two titles, as well as three minor premierships, were taken away, while the club was forced to repay $1.1 million in prize money, which was redistributed to the other 15 clubs (roughly $73,333 each).

They were also fined $500,000, had the eight points they had accumulated for the 2010 season taken away, and were to remain on zero points for the rest of the season (not even getting the two points they would normally receive from their bye rounds), thus sentencing the club to finish last.

A dynasty that had been building was demolished by the harshest of penalties. Players such as Billy Slater, Cameron Smith, Greg Inglis and Cooper Cronk could no longer call themselves premiership winners.

In the days following, coach Craig Bellamy and his players stood united at AAMI Park, declaring that they would fight their way back.

The next day, they unleashed their frustration on the New Zealand Warriors, racking up a huge 40-6 win in front of just under 24,000 mostly Storm supporters at Etihad Stadium.

Making their debuts that night were Matt Duffie, who scored twice, and Gareth Widdop, who would form a strong partnership with Cooper Cronk in the halves at the club before moving to St George Illawarra for the 2014 season.

The match was effectively over when the Storm led 22-0 at halftime, and they got on with the job in the second half, leading by as much as 40-0 before the Warriors pegged back a try at the death.

While the Storm eventually finished last at the end of the 2010 season, it wasn’t long before they were back on the premiership dais, winning their second legitimate title just two years later and capping off their rise from the ashes.

Preliminary final, 2019: Raiders 20 defeated Rabbitohs 12 at GIO Stadium
In arguably the biggest match to be played in the nation’s capital, the Raiders faced the Rabbitohs in a match between veteran coaches Ricky Stuart and Wayne Bennett.

Canberra had progressed straight to the preliminary final after upsetting the Storm in Melbourne in their qualifying final, while South Sydney lost to the Roosters in the qualifying final and then beat the Sea Eagles in the semi-final.

The Bunnies started strongly, but could not convert their pressure into points and the Raiders were first over the try-line through Jarrod Croker.

However, Souths hit back through Dane Gagai to level the scores at halftime.

The Raiders skipped ahead early in the second half through five-eighth Jack Wighton, and there would be no change to the scoreline until the final ten minutes when Josh Papalii scored to send the mostly green crowd into raptures.

But it didn’t come without controversy, with Charnze Nicoll-Klokstad sin-binned just minutes beforehand after a professional foul on Adam Reynolds, leaving the home side to survive the match one man down.

A consolation try to Campbell Graham at the death reduced the final score to 16-10, but it ended up being a night to remember for the Green Machine as they qualified for their first grand final since 1994.

Round 16, 2005: Knights 28 defeated Panthers 24 at Penrith Stadium
The 2005 season had been a struggle for the Knights, who looked headed for a 14th straight defeat for the season when they trailed the Panthers, who were sitting third-last on the ladder, 14-0 at halftime.

But whatever coach Michael Hagan told them in the sheds seemed to have a positive effect as they scored four unanswered tries to take a lead of 22-14.

Just as their first victory of season 2005 loomed, hooker Luke Quigley threatened to lose the match for his side when he was booked for a high shot on his opposite number, Luke Priddis, with ten minutes remaining.

Priddis scored from the subsequent turn-over to give his side back the lead, but there was still one final twist to come.

Clint Newton crashed over at the death to give the Knights back the lead, and when Andrew Johns converted, the scoreline read 28-24 – it remained that way until full-time, sending the Novocastrians into a state of delirium.