It's a grand final three-and-a-half years and one seven-week NRL lockdown in the making.
A tale of two teams who entered the 2020 COVID shutdown as the youngest sides in the NRL, with unbeaten starts to the year.
The story of a Penrith side who emerged from it and ended the season as minor premiers with only one loss, kicking off a dynasty that lasts to this day.
And Brisbane, who won only one more game all year and finished with the wooden spoon.
"It started in the pre-season before even all that happened," Panthers co-captain Nathan Cleary said.
"We came up with the mentality that we wanted to work harder than other teams.
"We had a really hard-work process and we knew we had to flip our mentality and build a culture of hard work."
Then, came COVID.
Penrith were among the first impacted.
Their football staff were the first to be stood down in the NRL, amid fears the closure of the group's five leagues clubs would destroy the business.
One day later the club's gym was stripped bare, with players each taking home individually-catered packages of equipment and tackling bags.
Weekly zooms became commonplace, and WhatsApp groups were made for everything from cook-off challenges set by dieticians to skill-based and gym work.
"That sort of worked out well for us, because we got another opportunity in that eight-week period to have another pre-season," Cleary continued.
"It was a building block for us because it was up to the individual to do the work. You could easily have not done it.
"But we got programs sent out and we've worked hard. That propelled us into that season, and it's been the same since."
Brisbane players' memories of lockdown are more clouded. Almost all have put the horror year to the back of their mind and are not keen to relive it.
When the competition returned, Broncos players looked badly off the pace in the new up-tempo six-again era and returned a far worse side.
The club and players copped a combined $175,000 in fines for COVID breaches, and when Anthony Seibold resigned as coach he admitted players had struggled with bubble life.
"We started the year well, had two wins, and then like everyone in the world got thrown into limbo," Broncos lock Pat Carrigan said.
"We definitely didn't handle that period well, and obviously what transpired after that's what happened."
It has taken Brisbane the past three years to recover.
They ran third-last in 2021, before last year's late-season collapse cost them a finals spot.
Of the 17 men who will play in Sunday's grand final against Penrith, seven were there for the 2020 wooden spoon.
The arrival of Adam Reynolds in 2022 has been key, while the return of livewire fullback Reece Walsh this season has proven the final piece of the puzzle.
"All those little hiccups and things that I've experienced along the way, 2020 was definitely a big one," Carrigan said.
"It's been good learning curves for myself and the other boys, just to harden some of those edges and make us appreciate what we've got now.
"If we didn't experience those sort of things, we probably wouldn't be here."
Penrith ultimately lost the 2020 grand final, but it began a dynasty that is now one win away from a NRL three-peat.
Brisbane's young pack will finally join them on the big stage Sunday, having taken the longest road to Accor Stadium.
