Nicho Hynes has put on a clinic to boost Cronulla's top-two hopes, scoring two tries in the Sharks' 40-6 NRL trouncing of Manly on the Sea Eagles' own turf.
On a significant Saturday night for the Sharks, Matt Moylan also starred while Hynes had a role in four tries and scored 20 points as Cronulla all but wrapped up a top-four spot.
But realistically, the Sharks have bigger fish to fry.
Cronulla for now remain third, equal on wins with second-placed North Queensland but with a far friendlier final fortnight of the season.
Craig Fitzgibbon's men have Canterbury and Newcastle in their run home, while the Cowboys face South Sydney and Penrith.
Cronulla are unlikely to host their qualifying final at PointsBet Stadium because of venue concerns even if they do finish second.
Nevertheless, the prospect of facing Melbourne or North Queensland in Sydney rather than on the road looms as a significant advantage.
In a dominant display, Moylan and Hynes had their fingerprints on everything while veteran prop Andrew Fifita also had one of his best games of the year off the bench.
The tone was set early when Cronulla's first try came off a Moylan chip-kick, allowing Hynes to run onto the ball and score without any real challenge.
The halfback's other try came in the second half when Moylan went to the line and allowed Fifita to provide a perfect offload for the No.7 to run onto cross over.
But beyond the tries and a 40-20 kick, Hynes' play of the game came with a superb cut-out pass for winger Matt Ikuvalu to score just before the halftime break.
Another try came when Briton Nikora was the beneficiary of a Hynes bomb, while Moylan also scored a try when he spun through Manly's lacklustre defence.
The win was only Cronulla's seventh in 43 games at Brookvale and their first since 2008.
But as Fitzgibbon put it on Friday, this is a different Sharks side this season.
Siosifa Talakai (shoulder) will back next week, while Toby Rudolf (knee) and Will Kennedy (ankle) are set to return in time for September.
In contrast, Manly's season can't end soon enough.
They blew most of the few chances they had on the Sharks line, with only a late Daly Cherry-Evans intercept stopping them going scoreless at 4Pines Park for the first time since 1993.
The loss marked their fifth straight, with the Sea Eagles still winless since the pride jersey saga with pressure piling on coach Des Hasler.
Defeats in their final two matches would now mark the worst end to a season in their history, having conceded 120 points in their past three games.
