Veteran Luke Lewis hasn’t appeared in a grand final for thirteen years. That night, the Penrith Panthers beat the Sydney Roosters to claim rugby league’s bigger prize.

“Thirteen years, it’s a long sip between drinks but it was a great time back then, in totally different shoes,” Lewis told AAP.

“I was a young pup coming through and had some blokes I played with as juniors in the same side.

“You think ‘I’ll get there again’ but it was getting a little bit frustrating because we would get to the semis and bow out early.

“So when we got to the preliminary final this year I didn’t want to leave any stone unturned.”