With two regular rounds to go, the Cronulla Sharks sit on 22 competition points and with their Top Four destiny in their own hands.
15 wins has the Shire based club in a position that few, this Sharks fan included, predicting in the pre-season.
Cronulla shot out of the gate, winning nine of their opening ten games, including a seven-game win streak.
Then disaster struck.
Despite a brilliant start to the season, the Sharks season fell off a cliff around the Origin period to fall from their perch atop the NRL ladder into potential purgatory.
A long-term injury to Nicho Hynes looked as though it would be pivot in derailing a season that promised so much early on for those in black, white and blue.
Albeit suffering from a loss of confidence, and form, Hynes was seen as the only man who could truly drag the Sharks from also-rans back into the elite company at the top.
Simply put, the Sharks needed someone to stand up. Standup, someone did.
There are multiple factors in the Sharks' return to winning ways and guaranteed Finals spot in 2024.
Braydon Trindall's return to form played a huge part, while the emergence of rookies Kayal Iro, Daniel Atkinson and Same Stonestreet has certainly helped breathe some much needed life back into the club.
Jesse Ramien has hit new heights in terms of performances and was very much in the Origin discussion. Sifa Talakai's move to the middle has made him a force again.
For mine, though, here is one X Factor that even I, as the self-appointed Shark 'expert', didn't really see in the pre-season, and that is the incredible form of Briton Nikora.
Straight off the bat, my Fins Up Podcast host and I had Nikora as the Sharks third best player last year behind Jack Williams and Nicho Hynes.
It's not like we weren't expecting big things from a multiple-time Kiwi back-rower, but Nikora's game has risen to such a level that he is now well and truly among the elite back-rowers in the competition.
Not blessed with the size of wrecking balls David Fifita or Haumole Olakau'atu, Nikora possesses a different skillset that separates him from almost all of his contemporaries out wide.
I've described him as "Wade Graham-esque" previously. Not to say he is anything like the player Graham was, but Nikora can do things that almost no other second rower in the game can do.
His ball playing is on par, or better than all of the big guns.
Cam Murray and Isaah Yeo, both lock forwards by trade, are the only forwards I can name at Nikora's level right now. In terms of second rowers, maybe Bryce Cartwright?
In his 20 appearances in 2024, Nikora has seven tries, six try assists, eight line breaks, eight line-break assists, 155 offloads and is tackling at almost 92% efficiency. He's also averaging band on 90 run metres per game.
None of those numbers individually scream out at you but combined, it's fair to say that Nikora is having a wonderful season.
It's worth remembering that he has done that without his main man beside him for a large chunk of that too.
Hynes's injury has broken up that lethal right-edge combination. Nikora has played beside Daniel Atkinson in recent weeks, but the Sharks' setup has meant he's defended inside a host of different players at different times.
Nikora and Ramien tore the Dragons apart on Sunday afternoon, an effort which largely promoted this appreciation piece.
This is a bloke who often fails to garner the attention or accolades he really deserves.
He's twice taken direct battles with David Fifita personally this season, winning both. Even in the Sharks loss he conceded very little to the player I still believe is the most dangerous left edge runner in the game.
He kept Viliame Kikau quiet. I'd argue he's the second most destructive left edge forward, at worst.
Nikora certainly isn't beyond a bad game, no one is, but I never really worry about him getting towelled up any time.
Even when he comes up against the Fifitas and Kikaus of the game.
The only real criticism I had of him last year was that he would often be hard to find when times really got tough. He'd be out the back while the backs made the hard hit ups coming off our line.
This year Nikora has been the first player back and putting his hand up.
The Sharks game plan is very much to rely on Iro and Ramien to create ruck speed and eat metres, but Nikora often takes the third or fourth run of the set.
He's often in a spot out wide, something of which the Sharks have turned into a positive on multiple occasions.
Ramien and even Katoa have seen the back rower outside them, allowing for easy metres against teams caught off guard.
Despite his tries, line breaks, big hits and passing game, I still believe we saw Nikora's play of the year last Sunday afternoon.
The Dragons made a late break and kicked inside. Four Dragons were close to the ball. Will Kennedy was nowhere to be seen after being drawn in by the aforementioned break.
Despite the Sharks holding a big lead, Briton Nikora showed more desperation than anyone else on the field, leaping high to knock the ball dead.
Should he have jogged back and watched the Dragons score a try that would have counted for literally nothing, no one would have batted an eye.
Not 2024 Briton Nikora, though! He smashed the ball dead, tapped the Shark logo on his chest, and then returned for duty as the Sharks lined up for the drop out.
I have no idea how close we were to losing him to the Tigers when he was last off contract, but there isn't a day this season I haven't been grateful for his re-signing and presence on that right edge.
Ramien and Trindall might have a say but there isn't a single person who could begrudge Nikora player of the year honours at the club.
