The Cronulla Sharks have come up well short in the Victorian capital during their NRL qualifying final against the Melbourne Storm, and will now need to back up next weekend, while the minor premiers enjoy a week off.
Here are all the key talking points from the game.
What to make of Nicho Hynes?
The Sharks had a very off day, really. They were never truly in the game, let down by their own attention to detail - more on that later - time and time again as the Storm ran riot.
But it's Nicho Hynes who will again come under the microscope in the post-mortem of the contest.
He is yet to pilot the Sharks to a finals victory in his time at the club, and looking back even further than that, Cronulla have now lost seven finals matches on the bounce.
Unfortunately for Hynes, he is yet to stand up in a big game. He has done it on occasion during the regular season, but the Sharks' record against top eight sides during his time at the club goes to show he doesn't do it consistently.
And in finals? It's non-existent. By the end of the game against Melbourne on Saturday, Braydon Trindall had seemingly taken over as the key playmaker for Craig Fitzgibbon's side.
Add that to the Origin appearance for Hynes earlier this year where he appeared a dear in the headlights, and it's fair to say pressure will reach fever pitch in the lead-up to next Friday's contest against the North Queensland Cowboys.
Complete Melbourne control in a completion rate shutout
Melbourne were totally and utterly impressive during their shutout of the Sharks. Apart from the try they let in on the stroke of halftime, they barely put a foot wrong in what ultimately wound up being a 27-point victory.
But it wasn't just flash and style which was on display during the second half.
It was control, consistency, and a warning to the Penrith Panthers that they are ready to be on their very impressive level that was dished out on Friday evening.
By the time it was all said and done, Melbourne had completed 46 of 48 sets at 95 per cent. On the back of that, they held 59 per cent of the ball, spent over ten extra minutes in possession than their opposition, had 73 extra runs, and almost 900 metres of extra metres, to go with 21 extra tackle busts, 300 extra post contact metres and, on average, an extra six metres per set.
They were clinical, and it never let the Sharks into the game, who didn't help themselves by only completing 26 of 33.
For a qualifying final, between two top four sides, it's hard to remember a game which such a differnece in stat lines.
Sharks costly errors squander momentum
As mentioned, Cronulla didn't help themselves at all during the loss.
Instead of going toe to toe with the Storm, they let pressure get the better of them and made numerous costly errors.
That was on display from the opening kick-off, which they allowed to disappear over the dead ball line on the bounce. That saw the Storm score through Cameron Munster - a remarkably soft try - in their opening set of the game.
Melbourne never let up from there, but everytime the Sharks started to get some momentum, they'd go ahead and squander it.
A last tackle play from inside their own half that resulted in a handover led to a Will Warbrick try, before what a penalty that would have put them in an attacking position saw the kick for touch never make it to the sideline.
They were just the tip of the iceberg really on a very disappointing afternoon for the men in black, white and blue.
Nikora and Wilton key for Sharks to break finals duck
As mentioned, the Sharks have now lost seven straight finals.
We all know the role Hynes will need to play if they are going to turn that around next week against Todd Payten's side, but it will be up to others as well.
Two of the most important players for Fitzgibbon's side this year have been Briton Nikora and Teig Wilton.
The second-rowers have been damaging, and had it all on display during Round 27 in a heavy win over the Manly Sea Eagles. Even against Melbourne, they still put on solid performances.
The Cowboys have attacking threats on the edge, but have also defended strongly in recent weeks. Breaking them down is going to require patience, but it's also going to require X-Factor, and that can come from two of the competition's best ball runners.
A battle of spines in likely grand final
Melbourne's spine were fantastic on Saturday. They have barely played a game together this year, and yet, the win over Cronulla saw them simply click.
They worked as if they had never taken a break.
Ryan Papenhuyzen was in fine form, Cameron Munster was at his razzle-dazzling best, Harry Grant scored a hat-trick, and the game's most underrated halfback Jahrome Hughes didn't put a foot wrong in controlling his side around the park.
Their involvements had the Sharks' defence scrambling from the first minute to the last, and once fatigue caught up with the visitors, it was all too easy for the men in purple to kick clear on the scoreboard.
They will, all things being equal with the world, come up against Penrith in the grand final, who themselves have a spine that is not taking a backward step.
That, in truth, is likely to be where the competition is won this year.
The coach needs to recognise that the Sharks will be lucky to beat the Cowboys next week, the way they played yesterday. They need to change – Trindall at 7 and Hynes at 6 would be an improvement. Atkinson at centre if Ramien is unfit would be better than Talakai: (Sifa is too big and heavy to be a centre these days: he needs to come off the bench as part of the forward rotation.)
However, the coach is too risk-averse. He won’t change the team at this end of the season unless players are too injured to play effectively. So the Sharks will go out this weekend against to Cows, not even getting to play the Panthers.