"It's ours to lose," said five-eighth James Maloney as the Sharks and Storm left the field at half-time in Sunday night's grand final.
And then they almost did. At 8-0 at half-time, the Sharks and their fans dared to dream. They had so much possession, they should have led by more. Should have led by 20. Harold Holt had poked his head up out of the shorebreak and was making his way to the sand.
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Cronulla Sharks break drought
Cronulla's long wait for a premiership has ended after 49 years with a 14-12 win over the Melbourne Storm.
Then, 10 minutes into the second half, the Storm found themselves on the Sharks' line. It was hard to recall another time when that had happened in the match. Prop Jesse Bromwich charged, pivoted, and then managed to squeeze the ball down and score.
Again, Cronulla had more ball, more chances ... and then Storm centre Will Chambers scored with 15 to go and the visitors went ahead for the first time.
Enter Andrew Fifita, the hero of the Shire today even if he is the villain everywhere else. He carried five defenders across the line and scored the try that gave Cronulla a 14-12 lead with 10 minutes left to play.
It went down to the final seconds, and when Storm winger Marika Koroibete was tackled after the siren the crowd exploded with relief. Grown men openly wept in front of the press box and why wouldn't they?
The Sharks have won their first premiership. It only took 50 years. Good luck to them.Â
If there is a greater conundrum in the game than Fifita, then please tell me what it is. At the various luncheons and functions and cocktail parties that make grand final week a true staying test, former players are universal in their condemnation of him: they don't like some of the stuff he does on the field, and what he stands for off it.
But they all agree he can play. Out there on the right edge, he terrorised the Melbourne defence, fending them off with impudent aplomb with his left hand, clutching the ball in his right like LeBron James, using his prodigious guts to swerve and wriggle out of tackles.
Regardless of whether Kangaroos coach Mal Meninga wants to name him in his Four Nations squad at 4pm on Monday, it will stun if the game's powerbrokers will afford him national selection.
For so much of the match, Melbourne had been so very un-Melbourne. The computer game was broken. Captain Cameron Smith and halfback and Dally M Medallist Cooper Cronk made errors they haven't made in years.
Late in the first half, Sharks hooker Michael Ennis placed in a short kick straight at Smith. The Australian and Queensland captain fumbled, giving the Sharks a final chance to extend their 8-0 lead. Two years ago, while playing for the Bulldogs, Ennis broke the internet when he patted Smith on the head after he made a mistake.
This time, he just patted Smith on the back, prompting Storm prop Jordan McLean to storm in and spark an all-in melee.
From the moment you walked into ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, you felt like it was Cronulla's moment. Time to call Harold back to shore.
With the exception of a pocket of purple at the southern end, the rest of the crowd of 83,625 was a sea of black, blue and white.
The club that has teetered on the brink of financial collapse for most of its 50 years of existence has, in the last fortnight, become one of the game's most supported. If only they all become paid-up members in the off-season.
This win is for the truest of true believers. Two years ago, they finished last in the middle of a doping scandal that almost sent the club to the wall. Relocation was mooted, financial collapse was close, but it forced the club to reinvent itself.
The match played out as expected. Those at the ground probably felt what those watching at home could see: a brutal start, as expected — and Cronulla's high-energy style won over Melbourne's four-man smother and wrestle in every tackle.Â
Playing with relative impunity in his final game before retirement, Ennis landed a forearm on the chin of McLean. Playing his final match before defecting to rugby union, Koroibete swung from behind and collected halfback Chad Townsend on the jaw.
They were outsmarted when Sharks captain Paul Gallen took the ball from the back of the scrum, knocked Townsend out of the way and put Ben Barba over for the opening try.
The match was theirs to lose. But unlike every single Sharks side of the past, this one didn't and history is now theirs
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