Here we are again. For the third year in a row, it's Penrith against South Sydney at the business end of the season.
As Saturday's preliminary final approaches, it's fitting that we're all here together one more time. After three seasons of riding high, the Panthers have refined their form of rugby league brutalism down to a fine art.
All their classic moves were on show in their win over Parramatta two weeks ago: like Nathan Cleary's kicking game, Isaah Yeo's passing, James Fisher-Harris' relentless intensity, Api Koroisau probing from dummy half, athletic carries from the likes of Brian To'o and Dylan Edwards that seem to generate thousands of metres, and everybody banding together to create a nigh-impregnable wall of black jerseys.
The Eels went with them until they couldn't anymore, and then Penrith pulled away for a 27-8 victory which felt familiar and with good reason — we've seen that exact type of win that exact type of way from Penrith dozens of times in recent years.
The Panthers have been the NRL's dominant force for long enough there's no point looking for a hidden secret behind their success anymore. We have seen them do it too many times.
They are rugby league's blunt-force artists. With the way they go about things they could bludgeon down a mountain range if you gave them enough time.
So it's not really a question of how they'll play against the Rabbitohs or what they'll do. They'll do the same thing they did in the preliminary final in 2020, which is the same thing they did in the grand final last year, which is the same thing they do in every game that really counts.
"We like that style of game, where we take teams to the back end and see if they can go with us," said five-eighth Jarome Luai.
"There might not be a specific moment, but you can feel it in the energy, in the ruck speed. There's a definite feel to it. Momentum changes.
"We have a lot of players in this team who can provide that, so we're always looking for it. That's the feeling you search for every game.
"It's where you want to be. We wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world.
"You have to execute, but we have a lot of players in this team who can get us to that point.
"When push comes to shove, we have to execute and we do it under pressure."
Penrith's comfort in running the gauntlet, and their repetition of the steps that get them there, is their superpower.
There might be slight variations – one week it might be Viliame Kikau who makes a few big plays, other weeks it might be Luai, or Stephen Crichton, or Izack Tago.
But the script generally remains the same, with all the pieces fitting together in the same way doing the same things. There's no need to change, because almost nobody has been able to stop them and South Sydney are no exception.
They've lost eight of their last nine against the Panthers who are also 2-0 in their "loser leaves town" clashes match-ups with the foundation club.
But the Rabbitohs are getting closer. They went down by four in the 2020 preliminary final, and were two short in last year's grand final.
And on both nights were without Latrell Mitchell, the cardinal and myrtle superman through whom all things are possible for Souths.
Perhaps that sole victory in their last nine encounters – a 16-10 upset in the first week of the finals last year – holds the key for South Sydney.
In that match, they were able to blunt Penrith in the middle, Blake Taaffe did a mighty job under the high ball taking Cleary's mind-bending bombs and they made the most of the few attacking chances they were offered.
It's easy to go into this game with that same plan. It's much harder to do it when the Penrith machine is running at it's full and terrible capacity.
One thing's for sure – the Bunnies won't back down. They're battle-hardened and have come through two sudden-death clashes with shining colours and any team with Mitchell will fancy their chances against any opponent who ever drew breath.
But even that might not be enough to ride the lightning and survive for next week's grand final.
The Panthers are going to do what they always do the way they always do it. They'll ask South Sydney the same question they've asked everybody else — can you go with us?
It's a question few teams can answer when it really counts.
