Manly coach Kieran Foran insists the Sea Eagles' rivalry with Melbourne still burns bright, 15 years on from its fieriest flashpoint.
The Sea Eagles host the Storm on Saturday night, a decade-and-a-half after the so-called "Battle of Brookvale" erupted at the same venue during the 2011 regular season.
Six different players received a total of 14 games in suspensions when an on-field scuffle reignited on the sidelines at Brookvale Oval, having initially been defused by match officials.
Manly's Glenn Stewart and Storm forward Adam Blair began throwing punches at one another en route to the sin bin, with players from all sides rushing into the commotion.
"In that time of the game, there was always scuffles," said Foran, Manly's five-eighth that night.
"(But) next minute, you looked over to the sideline and the boys were punching on on the sideline. That was something that we certainly hadn't seen.
"The emotions took over, I think nearly everyone on the field, we all came sprinting from everywhere and ended up getting suspensions and all that."
Fresh-faced Foran received a one-match ban for his part in the fracas, while Blair sat out five games and the elder Stewart brother three after being sent off on the night.
The match was the boiling point of an always heated rivalry between the era's two most dominant NRL sides, with Manly going on to win the grand final in 2011.
At least one of Manly or the Storm played in seven of the eight grand finals between 2006 and 2013, and won one apiece in the deciders they both contested in 2007 and 2008.
The Storm were later stripped of their 2007 and 2009 titles amid mass salary cap breaches, while the Sea Eagles' 40-0 win in 2008 remains the biggest grand final win of all time.
Manly will commemorate that win on Saturday night wearing their heritage jerseys, styled after those from the 2008 decider and featuring the 40-0 scoreline on the collar.
Coaching against the Storm for the first time, Foran said the rivalry remained strong in 2026.
"Obviously the landscape of the game's changed a lot since then, but you can never erase history," he said.
"There's always been a long-standing rivalry between Manly and Melbourne, particularly through that period.
"I think that rivalry has continued, even 15 years on, you look at the last few years that the teams have played one another, there's always been a little bit of added extra motivation in those games."
Saturday's game evokes memories of a storied past, but also comes in a week Manly secured the most significant player of their future.
Foran said it was "hugely exciting" that up-and-coming halfback Joey Walsh had signed a two-year deal to remain with Manly through 2029.
"We've just got such a high opinion of him. We believe he's going to be a wonderful player for a long, long time," he said.
