2000: Brisbane Broncos 14 (Tries: Tuqiri, Sailor, Goals: De Vere 3) def Sydney Roosters 6 (Tries: Fitzgibbon, Goals: Phillips 1)
There were few surprises in the 2000 NRL finals series with the hugely dominant Broncos finishing the regular rounds clearly in pole position then progressing into the grand final on the back of finals wins over the Sharks (34-20) and the Eels (16-10). Their opponents in the decider had been building towards the big one for a few years and when the Sydney Roosters stormed home in the second half to down Newcastle 26-20 in first preliminary final, the boys from Bondi Junction had finally progressed to the next level. But the Broncos dominated the dour season-decider from go to woe, eventually winning 14-6 in what was the last daytime grand final.
2001: Newcastle Knights 30 (Tries: Pedan 2, Simpson, Kennedy, Tahu, Goals: Johns 5) def Parramatta Eels 24 (Tries: Lyon 2, Hodgson 2, Goals: Burt 4)
The Parramatta Eels played some stunning attacking football in 2001 and were hotly tipped to take out their first premiership since 1986 once the finals arrived. After all, they had dropped just four games during the regular rounds and went on to compile a staggering 839 points in doing so. Their finals campaign began with a 56-12 thumping of finals new boys the Warriors, before the first signs of what was to follow showed up in a tentative 24-16 preliminary final win over the Broncos. The Knights took care of the Roosters 40-6 and the Sharks 18-10 to book their place in the big one, but despite having big guns Andrew Johns and Ben Kennedy in the mix they were still clear underdogs heading into the NRL's first-ever night grand final with the Eels. It was Johns and Kennedy, with the aid of two-try hero Billy Pedan, that helped Newcastle blow the shell-shocked Eels out of the water in the first half, paving the way for a 30-24 Knights' win - their second premiership success.
2002: Sydney Roosters 30 (Tries: Hegarty, Wing, Fitzgibbon, Flannery, Fletcher, Goals: Fitzgibbon 5) def New Zealand Warriors 8 (Tries: Jones, Goals: Cleary 2)
Controversy is never far from rugby league and the back-end of the 2002 premiership season produced loads of it when the ladder-leading Bulldogs were stripped of 37 competition points for massive salary-cap breaches. That allowed the flamboyant New Zealand Warriors to assume the minor premiership and they took full advantage by progressing to their maiden grand final on the back of finals wins over Canberra 36-20 and Cronulla 16-10. The Roosters had wins over Cronulla, Newcastle and Brisbane to confirm their spot in the final, and after experiencing a brief scare in the shape of a Stacey Jones try just after half-time, captain courageous Brad Fittler picked himself up from a sickening head knock to lead his side home to a convincing 30-8 win, breaking the Tri-colours' 27-year premiership drought.
2003: Penrith Panthers 18 (Tries: Rooney 2, Priddis, Goals: Campbell 2, Girdler 1) def Sydney Roosters 6 (Tries: Hegarty, Goals: Fitzgibbon)
The Penrith Panthers started the season 100-1 outsiders then finished it with the minor premiership and their second-ever title in the bag. A comfortable 28-18 win over the Broncos in the first week of the finals saw them progress to a see-sawing 28-20 preliminary final victory over the Warriors. The Roosters were the reigning premiers and they played accordingly to thump the Knights 36-8 in their opening finals match. That set up a much-anticipated grand final qualifier with the team many people thought would have won the 2002 premiership had they not been pinged for salary cap breaches, the Bulldogs. The Roosters were a cut above the Dogs in that match and took the favourites tag into the decider with Penrith, but John Lang's young side, spurred on by that famous Scott Sattler cover tackle, defied the odds to win 18-6 and take out their second title.
2004: Bulldogs 16 (Tries: Utai 2, El Masri, Goals: El Masri 2) def Sydney Roosters 13 (Tries: Walker, Minichiello, Goals: Fitzgibbon 2, Field goals: Finch 1)
The Bulldogs and Roosters were clearly the best two teams throughout the 2004 season and, fittingly, they went on to clash in the decider of that year. The Roosters, keen to atone for their shock 2003 grand final loss, took care of the Raiders 38-12 in the first week of the finals, before surviving a scare against the fairytale Cowboys in a thrilling preliminary final to progress. The Bulldogs had a myriad of factors to inspire them, but they fell at their first finals hurdle, suffering a shock 30-22 loss to the Cowboys. Convincing victories over Melbourne (43-18) and Penrith (30-14) over the next two weeks put them in the final against the side they had forged a healthy rivalry with in recent times. The Roosters actually led 13-6 at the break, but the focussed Bulldogs scored two tries after half-time to assume the 16-13 lead they would vigorously defend to the death.
2005: Wests Tigers 30 (Tries: Gibbs, Richards, Laffranchi, Fitzhenry, Payten, Goals: Hodgson 5) def North Queensland Cowboys 16 (Tries: Bowen, Norton, Sing, Goals: Hannay 2)
It's not often that a team ranked 150-1 outsiders after Round 15 of a season goes on to win the grand final, but in 2005 the Wests Tigers achieved exactly that when they took the Sydney rugby league public on a magic carpet ride through the final weeks of the season. The unheralded young cubs, coached by wily old veteran Tim Sheens, kicked off their finals campaign in emphatic style, belting eventual grand final opponents North Queensland 50-6 at ANZ Stadium and then smashing the Broncos 34-6 a week later. The atmosphere at the SFS for the Tigers-Dragons' preliminary final was electric and the inexperienced Wests side thrived to pull off a classic 20-12 victory. The upsets continued the following day when the Cowboys wiped minor premier Parramatta off the floor to the tune of 29-0. The young Tigers continued their enterprising attacking style in the decider, recording a convincing 30-16 victory over the Cowboys to nail down the merged club's maiden premiership.
2006: Brisbane Broncos 15 (Tries: Hodges, Tate, Goals: Lockyer 2, Parker 1, Field Goals: Lockyer 1) def Melbourne Storm 8 (Tries: Turner, King)
The Melbourne Storm dominated the premiership rounds to finish runaway leaders at the top of the ladder, but their quest for a second title was dashed by the Darren Lockyer-inspired Broncos side in the game that really mattered. A hard-fought 12-6 victory over Parramatta in the 1 v 8 clash confirmed a preliminary final appearance for the Storm where they duly accounted for the Dragons 24-10. Brisbane failed in their finals opener against the Dragons, only to respond in blistering fashion by hammering Newcastle 50-6 the following week and coming from behind to defeat the Bulldogs in the preliminary final 37-20. The more experienced Broncos came to the fore in the grand final, although they were aided by a few 50-50 calls from match officials in their 15-8 defeat of the Storm. It was veteran prop Shane Webcke's final game of rugby league.
2007: Melbourne Storm 34 (Tries: Quinn 2, Inglis 2, Crocker, King, Newton, Goals: Smith 3) def Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 8 (Tries: Matai, Hicks)
The heartache of loss in 2006 was the chief driving force behind Melbourne going one step further the following year. Craig Bellamy had now developed some of the most dominant players in the game and the likes of Inglis, Cronk, Slater and Smith were all driving forces in the club's convincing run through the finals which consisted of wins over Brisbane (40-0) in week one and Parramatta (26-10) on home soil in the second preliminary final. Manly punched well above their weight to be the Storm's grand final opponents, but they were blown away by the minor premiers 34-8, with Melbourne five-eighth Greg Inglis running amok to win the Clive Churchill Medal. The Storm later had their 2007 title stripped due to massive salary-cap breaches.
2008: Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles 40 (Tries: Robertson 3, Ballin, Kite, Williams, Menzies, Bell, Goals: Matai 2, Lyon 2) def Melbourne Storm 0
Melbourne and Manly finished the premiership rounds on equal points at the top of the NRL ladder, but on grand final day the two sides couldn't have been further apart. The Storm's finals campaign kicked off with a shock 18-15 loss to the Warriors, the first time the minor premiers had been beaten by the eighth-placed team under the McIntyre System. A last-minute Greg Inglis try saved the Storm's bacon in Wayne Bennett's final game in charge of the Broncos the following week, but this was the match that produced skipper Cameron Smith's season-ending suspension. The Storm progressed to the decider courtesy of a 28-0 drubbing of Cronulla to once again meet Manly who had made easy work of their two finals against the Dragons (38-6) and Warriors (32-6). Minus Smith's direction and leadership, the Storm copped the biggest flogging in grand final history as Manly went on to a record a stunning 40-0 victory to exact revenge in the best possible way for the previous year's result.
2009: Melbourne Storm 23 (Tries: Hoffman, Blair, Inglis, Slater, Goals: Smith 3, Field Goals: Inglis 1) def Parramatta Eels 16 (Tries: Grothe, Reddy, Moimoi, Goals: Burt 2)
Melbourne's third grand final victory will forever be tarnished for the dramas that occurred later on, but those issues cannot erase the memories of Parramatta's scintillating late-season challenge of 2009. With full-back Jarryd Hayne lighting up the rugby league world, the Eels rose from the dead to sneak into eighth position, before pumping minor premiers St George Illawarra (25-12), the Gold Coast (27-2) and the Bulldogs (22-12) in their three finals to claim an unlikely spot in the big one. Their pulsating victory over arch-rivals the Bulldogs in the preliminary final was played in front of a record finals (not including grand final) crowd of 74,549 fans at ANZ Stadium. Melbourne pummelled Manly 40-12 and then an understrength Brisbane 40-10 to breeze into the grand final where they were largely in control of the Eels until two late tries gave Parramatta a glimmer of hope. The Storm hung on to record a 23-16 win which somewhat erased the pain of the previous year's horror defeat.