Nicho Hynes led Cronulla to a historic finals victory, ending Canberra's season decisively.
Nicho Hynes spent the week pondering why Cronulla aren't given more respect, then helped the Sharks take their biggest step to finally earn it in the Craig Fitzgibbon era.
For the first time since their finest hour - the 2016 premiership season - the Sharks won consecutive finals games by ending the NRL season of minor premiers Canberra with a stunning 32-12 victory on Saturday night.
Cronulla had won just one of their past nine finals matches before this year's series, assumed once again to be making up the numbers as they entered the 2025 play-offs from fifth spot.