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THE Gatorade shower went to Trent Robinson on Sunday night.
It came after two flashes of Sonny Bill Williams brilliance underlined what he means to the Roosters, to the NRL, and what a loss he will be when he more than likely he leaves the NRL to return to rugby union.
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The Roosters are the NRL premiers, underlining the great success stories of Robinson, the Dally M Coach of the Year, and Williams' return to rugby league, and the resurrection of one of the great proud clubs in the game.
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There was a fear ANZ Stadium would fail to be a sellout after South Sydney was eliminated last week.
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In their hope the Rabbitohs would qualify for their first grand final in 42 years Souths fans swamped the box office weeks ago, and when they were eliminated a week ago Souths fans were left not just with the disappointment of the Rabbitohs' exit, but with the bitter after taste that there no two teams now playing the grand final that Rabbitohs fans like less.
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Tickets were said to be going for little more than a song websites the day before the game.
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In the end, 81,491 turned up to watch one of the great grand finals, where the lead changed three times, and each time the leader looked set to go on with it.
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There was a penalty try and another from a forward pass, enough lesser errors to provide a sprinkle of controversy and eternal argument, the Clive Churchill Medal winner was Daly Cherry-Evans, from the losing side, and then there were Williams' twin pieces of magic.
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The first ended directly in a try to Shaun Kenny-Dowall to put the Roosters ahead while the second, a 30m burst up field, indirectly led to one of those freakish efforts that is fast becoming the hallmark of NRL football.
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This time, Michael Jennings chased a loose ball and dived between Brett Stewart and David Williams to gather in the loose ball and touch down and give the Roosters the 26-18 final scoreline.
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With just six minutes left, the premiership was sealed there.
It was a remarkable show of grit and composure from the Roosters.
They went into the game as reigning minor premiers and, better than that, statistically the best in the NRL. In attack and defence.
But they are just numbers, of course.
What you cannot measure are intangibles.
How do you measure courage? Or the steel inside the bones?
Whoever came up with a way to measure experience?
The Sea Eagles ran into the game with 11 survivors from their 2011 premiership. With seven from their 2008 premiership.
In other words, this was a team that knew what it took to get the job done. Week after week Manly has warred through this finals series, tired and injured, and through nothing but their own sheer will found a way to overcome.
They put all that experience to good use in the opening 20 minutes with a blitzkrieg that shocked the minor premiers, and then another shock start to the second half that took the game away.
"We ran away from the fight a bit in the first 20," Robinson said.
"Whereas we've always taken the fight to other teams.
"A few guys got off track and we clawed our way back in."
Manly showed it was nothing less than a team that knew what it took to get the job done. Week after week Sea Eagles warred through this finals series, tired and injured, and through nothing but their own sheer will found a way to overcome.
Three minutes into the second stanza Cherry-Evans found space and as the defence closed he kicked ahead, with Jamie Lyon and Foran in chase.
Lyon looked set to score when Mitch Aubusson tackled him from behind, denied what looked certain - or could be argued wasn't certain - to be a try.
Referee Shayne Hayne asked the video referee to check for a penalty try, and the green light came on.
It was the first penalty try since Craig Smith was knocked out in the process of scoring by Jamie Ainscough in the 1999 decider, when Melbourne beat St George Illawarra.
It all held together until the final 20 minutes, when Manly led 18-8 and the Roosters faced their moment.
"It got to 18-8 and we had a choice there," Robinson said, saying later, "We weren't going to get a try before we worked out how to stay calm and get back on track."
It was simple, really.
With skipper Anthony Minichiello whispering calm words in their ears, the Roosters cut out the gravity and reward at stake and focused on their processes.
It sounds so boring, but it was all the difference.
Normally, just a quick look over the formguide would have shown the Sea Eagles would have had what was an unassailable lead, given the strength of their defence.
As was pointed out more than once, the Sea Eagles had conceded only two tries their previous two games, and both came from kicks. In other words, their opponents had to go over them because they couldn't go through them.
"They finished way too strong for us," coach Geoff Toovey said.
With the fresher legs, though, the Roosters started punching holes in them, showing the quality of their football side.
Far from being ruffled by Manly's early intent, the Roosters showed their cool nerve and, rather than forcing their game, went back to their structures and applied themselves.
And so back they came, showing they had some intangibles themselves.
SYDNEY ROOSTERS 26 (A Guerra M Jennings S Kenny-Dowall D Tupou tries J Maloney 5 goals) bt MANLY 18 (J Lyon S Matai J Taufua tries J Lyon 3 goals) at ANZ Stadium. Referee: Shayne Hayne, Ben Cummins. Crowd: 81,491.
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