As a long-time follower of rugby league I was naturally delighted when Melbourne Storm entered the NRL and it meant that the sport would be played regularly in my home town.
This only increased my appreciation for the sport as I went to plenty of Storm matches in their first two or three years in the competition.
So when after many years of hard work proving ourselves as a legitimate media organisation with our coverage of all things rugby league the NRL recognised Sportal by accrediting us, I of course put my hand up to be the Melbourne correspondent.
In just the second year we were finally admitted to matches the Rugby League World Cup came to town and as well as covering it for Sportal and our local clients we also had significant duties for one of our overseas shareholders, Press Association Sport in England.
That meant that we had to cover every match of the tournament from the venue and while I had Melbourne covered and my colleagues Adam Lucius and Steve Orme looked after Sydney, we also had our share of freelancers looking after some of the regional venues.
But with the final being played at Suncorp Stadium and of the first cricket Test between Australia and New Zealand also in Brisbane, it meant our usual reporter was tied up at the Gabba.
That gave Adam and I the opportunity to cover the final, which would be contested by league heavyweights Australia and New Zealand.
There may have been 10 teams contesting the tournament but there were really only three teams seen as capable of winning, the Kangaroos, Kiwis and England.
But after opening with an easy 30-6 win over New Zealand in Sydney and then destroying England 52-4 under the roof at Docklands as Billy Slater scored three tries and threw the final ball for another three, Australia were raging favourites to claim the title.
Fiji were brushed aside 52-0 in the semis in Sydney and New Zealand comfortably accounted for England in the other playoff leaving the traditional rivals to renew hostilities in the decider.
With thunderstorms forecast for the day of the final there were concerns in the lead-up that the game might have to be called off but it went ahead and while Adam was seated in the cramped press box I was in the overflow seating outside.
My first visit to the iconic Queensland venue and it was heaving with passionate locals and Kiwis and the atmosphere went up a level when the boys in black and white performed their haka, much to the delight of those whose loyalties lay across the Tasman.
Australia may have easily won the first encounter but with Stephen Kearney at the helm and the wily old Wayne Bennett, who knew a thing or two about success in Brisbane, New Zealand well and truly gave as good as they got.
The Kangaroos led 10-0 in the early stages after Slater set up Darren Lockyer and then David Williams but Lockyer spilled a Cam Smith grubber as the chance to lead 16-0 went begging.
Jeremy Smith got the Kiwis on the board and they snatched the lead, despite a hint of a knock-on after Brent Kite forced Benji Marshall to lose the ball, as Jerome Ropati scored for 12-10 after half an hour.
Lockyer would score again before the break to give his team a 16-12 lead to take to the sheds but the momentum swung again as Lance Hohaia burrowed over from dummy half and Issac Luke converted for 18-16.
There would be two massive turning points from there in or around the 60th and 70th minutes, the first of them from Slater who had clearly been the player of the tournament until then.
Slater took off up the shortside after fielding a kick from Marshall but Manu Vatuvei was awake to what he was up to and closed in, resulting in Slater blindly throwing the ball back over his shoulder before he was forced into touch.
Marshall gleefully swooped on the loose ball to extend the Kiwis' lead to 22-16 but it still wasn't enough as Greg Inglis scored to keep the Kangaroos in touch at 22-20.
That was when Nathan Fien kicked towards the Australian line and Joel Monaghan - he who would be forced out of the NRL not too long after amid the controversy of a Mad Monday prank involving a dog.
Monaghan failed to take the ball cleanly and then compounded his error by grabbing hold of Hohaia as he attempted to reach the ball, leaving video referee Steve Ganson little choice but to award a penalty try.
Adam Blair would go on to add the icing on the party cake for New Zealand with another late try for a remarkable 34-20 win that no one, including me, saw coming.
The fallout would continue the next day in a local hotel when Kangaroos coach Ricky Stuart blasted referee Ashley Klein for his handling of the final, resulting in the former halfback falling on his sword.
It may not have been how I expected the final to play out and being a passionate Aussie it wasn't exactly the result I was hoping for but the game was superb and fitting of a tournament decider and at the end of the day it was good for the game to see the underdog prevail.