Winning the Grand Final is all about peaking at the right end of the season. How many times have we seen teams dominate all year (Storm!?) only to fall short to a team hitting form when it counts most?
The 2009 season is especially famous for this. The Dragons, Bulldogs and to a lesser extent the Titans, were far and away the best teams across the regular rounds.
The Storm, in fourth, finished five points behind the table-topping Dragons and Broncos. The eighth-placed Eels were four points further back.
Both found form at the right end of the season and would meet in one of the most famous, and now infamous, Grand Finals of the modern era.
Obviously, both teams contesting this Sunday's Grand Final are in form. Two straight wins is the minimum requirement, but not every player is currently firing on all cylinders.
We look below at the five form players heading into the decider. These aren't necessarily the best players, but the players who enter in red, hot form and will likely decide the premiership.
Let us know below who you believe is entering the Grand Final as the form player of the competition.
Many, myself included, were critical of Ivan Cleary's decision to shift Stephen Crichton from the centre position to the wing. It has proven a masterstroke to date.
His try against the Storm was brilliant. His positioning to embarrass the best winger in the world, Josh Addo-Car, was pure class.
He was a mammoth against the Bunnies in week one of the Finals. He ran for 293 metres filling in for Dylan Edwards at fullback. Rather than sulk about his move to the wing in games two and three, he remained equally massive.
His positioning under the high ball has been brilliant. He and To'o are both wrecking ball runners out of their own end which starts the Panthers' sets off so well.
His post-contact metres have been a real highlight thus far. 65 (293), 34 (108) and 37 (122) prove just how hard he has been to tackle.
Isaah Yeo is the kind of player you can watch for 80 minutes, see him 50+ times and yet is barely registered. He just goes about his work as one of the top three No.13s in the game.
Across three finals games he has made 127 tackles and missed two. He's also averaging almost 135 metres per game against the Bunnies, Eels and Storm, who boast three pretty decent forward packs.
Yeo simply does his job. Across the opening three weeks of the finals series he has completed said job to near perfection.
His one-on-one battle with Cam Murray is so crucial this Sunday. Two in-form megastar locks colliding with the game's biggest prize on the line. Sign me up!
Yeo played all but three minutes of this year's finals series and has been in the top-five forwards this year. He won't attract the attention of the likes of Murray or Kikau but is equally as important.
The Panthers and Maroons superstar is undoubtedly the most underrated member of the Panthers pack. He's arguably the most underrated player in the competition.
Capewell has been absolutely immense thus far across the finals series. Being a forward isn't all about running metres. Although he's averaging around 70 per game, it's the strength of his runs.
He busted the line against the Storm which lead to a try. He crossed for his team's only try against the Eels.
Capewell is the ultimate effort player. Every single second he is on the park he's giving 100%. He's always there in support in both attack and defence.
He did miss seven tackles against the Storm, but he made 50. In a game of that intensity, the collision was just as important as completed tackles.
You can bet that Capewell will make a big run this weekend. He'll tackle himself to exhaustion and will be in absolutely everything!
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The Bunnies lock has been nothing less than irresistible across two weeks of the finals series, and well before that.
He's run for 121 and 196 metres respectively against the Panthers and the Sea Eagles. He's also made 68 tackles, missing only two.
The Panthers have to stop Murray on Sunday. If he is allowed to make metres and play the ball quickly he makes everyone around him more dangerous, especially Damien Cook.
When Murray is rolling, Souths are rolling. His ability to break the line, produce an offload and most importantly win the ruck and play the ball quickly cannot be understated.
Most finals games are won in the middle. The Murray vs Yeo clash is mouth-watering. Both will play big minutes and I expect a big impact from both.
Right now Murray holds the slightest of edges, form-wise, over his direct opposite.
The only criticism on Cody Walker has been the perception that he is never quite at his best in the biggest games.
Not only has he silenced such claims thus far in the 2021 finals series, but he enters the biggest game of the season as the form player of the competition.
Just two weeks ago he led his side to a win over his side's Grand Final opponents, the Penrith Panthers. On that night he crossed for a try, contributed a line break and made one himself.
For mine, he was best-on-ground in that he dictated where the game was played, especially in the second half when Penrith were chasing the game.
Most importantly he completed 19 tackles at 100%. Given that he, like the other three starting halves this weekend, will be targeted for 80 minutes.
Last week he crossed for a double, ran for over 100 metres and took the major percentage of the kicking game for his side. He easily outplayed his opposite half in Foran and even the supposed 'Michael Jordan of the NRL' Daly Cherry-Evans.
Walker and Cleary shape as the most important players this Sunday. Man of the match odds confirm what we already know.
Thus far, across the finals series, Walker has been the man. Can he completely silence his doubters with his biggest performance in the biggest game yet?