The more things change, the more things stay the same.
One year on from the Sydney Roosters embarrassing St George Illawarra 60-18 on Anzac Day, the Chooks eased to another big victory during the showpiece event.
Sam Walker ran riot during last season's demolition job as he bagged a 24-point haul and laid on two try assists during a stellar display on the big stage.
The halfback’s absence due to an ACL tear suffered late last year has been sorely felt by the Chooks so far this campaign with Sandon Smith often burdened by the weight of responsibility on his shoulders.
Yet the 22-year-old had the best game of his career to date against the Red V as he mirrored Walker's dominance on the way to orchestrating a 46-18 win.
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Trent Robinson heaps praise on Sandon Smith after standout display on Anzac Day
Walker wasn’t the only absentee from the side that hammered the Dragons last year with nine starters and one bench player from that day missing.
The list is staggering with Joseph Suaalii, Joey Manu, Michael Jennings, Dom Young, Luke Keary, Jared Waerea-Hargreaves, Brandon Smith, Lindsay Collins, Nat Butcher and Terrell May having departed, retired, been dropped or sidelined through injury.
However, on the opposite side, Shane Flanagan’s team were also a different proposition following a summer of upheaval.
Just seven players from the 17 who suffered the infamous heavy defeat played in this year’s match. The likes of Zac Lomax, Jack Bird, Ben Hunt and Francis Molo are all long gone.
The rebuild from both clubs has followed contrasting methods though with Flanagan turning to veterans and Trent Robinson placing his faith in the youth.
In the end, it was the youth who prevailed in front of a sold-out crowd at Allianz Stadium.
Smith opened the scoring inside the first five minutes for the Chooks as he was rewarded for backing up when he reeled in an offload from Daniel Tupou.
It was the first of many telling contributions from the rookie as he was almost perfect from the tee and executed a try-saving tackle while the game was still firmly in the balance.
Smith then bagged his second in the shadows of half-time after wrong-footing Clint Gutherson to go in under the posts.
"Smith is having an Anzac Day to remember," Andrew Voss exclaimed on Fox League.
"He scored the first try and he’s kicked perfectly. Now, he’s thrown the dummy from heaven to score his second."
The playmaker’s eventful afternoon continued after the break, only this time it was a rare blot on his copybook.
He was sent to the sin-bin for a high tackle on Lachlan Ilias with Robinson’s side punished when Kyle Flanagan crossed.
However, this came after the Chooks had managed to post eight points of their own while being a man down as they added a penalty goal and, from the resulting kick-off, struck from inside their own half via Blake Steep’s audacious dummy.
When Smith returned, the No.6 was at it again as he ducked and weaved on the last play before stabbing a kick through for James Tedesco to score the first of his double.
Sandon Smith wins Ashton-Collier Medal on Anzac Day
"It’s a breakout day for him," Greg Alexander said in commentary.
"Smith is a big story out of today," Voss agreed as the five-eighth grabbed 22 points in the comprehensive win for the Roosters.
Robinson was effusive in his praise for the Ashton-Collier Medal winner, highlighting how his exemplary preparation for the big game was evident for all to see.
"You could see he's got really good vision," the coach said.
"When he plays like that, he sees a lot. So, credit to him. Even to go off for the 10 minutes and handle that well and continue to break the form was really nice.
"It's a funny one because you build the week up because you want to honour it really well," Robinson continued.
"But it's not about having a heaviness to it. We did a few things this week...we did it in the right way so it didn't become a weight.
"Therefore, it's just your individual prep and it's a credit to Sandon that he individually prepped that way."