The Storm marked themselves as the team of the decade and one of the best ever when they won their second premiership from four consecutive grand finals by holding off sentimental favourite Parramatta 23-16 in this year’s grand final.The Storm’s place in history was at the crossroads going into this year’s season decider. If they had lost, only one premiership from a four-season period of dominance would have condemned them to the ranks of gross underachievers — unjust considering it was achieved in this era of salary cap constraints. But in the end, the Storm timed their run perfectly. Since 2006, the Storm have lost, mainly through salary cap constraints, more than a first-grade team worth of quality players, but each season they have managed to not only be competitive but to be among the top two teams. Stathi Paxinos
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