Brisbane was never meant to be here, until something akin to destiny started to intervene.
The Broncos had been fighting upstream for the past month and eventually this internal battle tells.
Except it didn’t in the NRL grand final against Melbourne as they fought back from seemingly insurmountable odds once again to break a 19-year premiership drought.
MORE: How Reece Walsh secured Clive Churchill Medal in classic grand final
From dodging Madge’s calls to writing his name into history - Reece Walsh lives out his Broncos fantasy
The Broncos had to scrap right up until the last round of the regular season to even earn a double chance in the finals.
Their first reward was an assignment in the nation’s capital, where they had to take on the minor premiers, Canberra.
At various times during that clash, they looked dead and buried. The itinerary mapped out for potentially taking the long way around to the decider.
But Reece Walsh returned from the sin-bin to orchestrate the Raiders’ downfall in incredible fashion.
It was yet another stunning display from the fullback in a sequence dating all the way back to Round 23.
The Broncos had lost Selwyn Cobbo, Ezra Mam and Adam Reynolds the previous week during a loss to the Storm.
At that stage, the Broncos were at long odds to be considered as a genuine premiership force.
Yet the fullback sparked the team and they rattled off win after win until their troops returned at the business end of the campaign.
They were all there in the preliminary final, when the Broncos did the thing that no other club had managed to do for years - stop Penrith when it mattered most.
As soon as the dynasty crumbled at Suncorp Stadium off the back of yet another improbable comeback, the dreams of a title started to solidify in the mind.
After all, if you can beat the Raiders in a 90-minute epic and then topple the four-time reigning champions, anything is possible.
Of course, nothing in the decider was smooth sailing either. How could it be?
The Broncos struck first inside the first two minutes, but their balloon was well and truly burst as the Storm grabbed a stranglehold over the match.
With their bodies weary and lungs all but burnt out, it looked as if it would be one fight too many for the Broncos.
First it was Nick Meaney slicing through, then Eli Katoa and finally Will Warbrick over in the corner.
And even when Walsh produced "one of the most inspirational tries ever" in a grand final, according to Billy Slater, it still didn’t look like it would be enough.
Jahrome Hughes went down the other end in the shadows of half-time and danced his way through the defence to touch down and restore Melbourne’s advantage.
However, in the second stanza, during a 12-minute spell that swung the match and ultimately delivered Brisbane its first premiership since Darren Lockyer hurled the trophy aloft back in 2006, Walsh had all the answers.
He set up two more four-pointers with some lethal passes and put himself in the frame time and time again as he snuffed out the Storm attack.
With Ben Hunt and Adam Reynolds consigned to the sidelines through injury during a nail-biting climax, Walsh came up with the biggest play of the match.
It wasn’t a bit of footwork that bamboozled a defender, or a bullet pass out to one of his wingers.
Instead, it was simply putting his body on the line and making a tackle as the last line of defence.
When Michael Maguire, Walsh and Reynolds assembled for the post-match press conference, they constantly chuckled away to each other as if they grasped the absurdity of it all.
"When Reyno first came to the club and invited me over for the first time, and the only time since then, I asked to have a look at his premiership ring," Walsh recalled.
"From day one of dodging Madge’s calls because I was too scared to talk to him to being in the trenches together [it's crazy].
"No one gave us a chance. The only ones who believed were in the room."
Now, not only will the No.1 have a premiership ring of his own to savour as well as a Clive Churchill Medal, he will also have a grand final highlight reel which will rival just about anyone in the game.
"Our backs were against the wall and we could have shied away, but we went towards the moments," Walsh stated.
"I’m just so grateful and honoured to be a part of this team. It’s been 19 years and we’ve just etched our names into history."