Before 7.30pm on Sunday night, this narrative could have been shaped any which way, snacking on statistics and recent history to support an educated guess at the outcome. Recent finals data supports a Brisbane comeback from at least a 14-point deficit, but the numbers say Storm do not leave themselves open to capitulation in the way Penrith and Canberra did the past two weeks.

The numbers say Brisbane cannot be down 22-12 at half-time and turn that into 22-26 at the full-time whistle.

But no statistic can quantify the sight of Reece Walsh tackling Tui Kamikamica out of a probable match-winning try. And Walsh chasing down Ryan Papenhuyzen out of another match-winning try. And Walsh tackling at the death to hold on to the slimmest of leads in a grand final that had everything and more.

Su

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