It is now over 24 hours since the Sharks grasped a loss from the jaws of victory against the Bulldogs.
The dust has now settled, emotion has subsided and reality has well and truly sunk in.
That reality is that despite sitting comfortably in the NRL's top four, the Cronulla Sharks look as though they'll do nothing more than make up the numbers yet again come Finals time.
Although I would never blame one player for a team's form slump, the Sharks fall has coincided perfectly with the dip in form of halfback Nicho Hynes.
I said in the pre-season that no team is more reliant on one superstar than the Sharks are of Hynes.
The former Dally M medalist has now steered the side to two straight finals appearances, despite lacking the overall quality of the more fancied sides.
Unfortunately though, when Hynes isn't fit and firing, the Sharks have no plan B and fall into total obscurity as a result.
There is a very visceral overreaction across social media right now proclaiming Nicho Hynes to be anything from a choker, to a fraud, to a reserve grader, to much worse.
I am here to say that those comments are absolutely ridiculous.
This is a halfback who has won a Dally M and fell one game short of a second one. I still maintain that if he plays one more game in 2023 then we're here discussing a back to back winner.
That said, as a Sharks fan I am very worried about what I have seen lately.
It all looks very, very familiar. Almost a carbon copy of 2023, except worse.
Last year Nicho Hynes earned an Origin call up on the back of his dream 2022 season and his enormous run in 2023 for the Sharks.
A horror Origin debut, when thrown on without a plan or time to warm up, saw his confidence shattered.
His form post that Origin, and the eventual dropping from the squad, saw both he and the Sharks tumble in terms of results.
It took over a month for Hynes to return to his former glory.
There were moments. There were games. That said, it was probably four to six weeks until the Prince of the Shire rose again.
2024 is looking very much like it will follow a similar form line ... except the volume turned up to 11.
Hynes played through injury against the Panthers. He was awful. The only moments I remember from that night were Hynes kicking the ball out on the full twice before failing to return from the halftime break.
Blues coach Michael Maguire was in the crowd and would eventually name Hynes in the seven.
There is no doubt, albeit easy in hindsight to say, he should not have run out for that game.
Fast forward to Origin 1 and Hynes was made the very public scapegoat of one of the all time Origin thrashings.
The fact that the aforementioned Maguire said that he would have picked Moses, if fit, shows that Hynes was never the option. Hynes knew that and had to cop the blowback as a result.
Do not get me wrong, he did himself no favours in Origin One but the fact his side was forced to defend a man down for over 70 minutes is one heck of a mitigating factor.
Hynes has looked like a shell of his former self since returning to the club.
He was barely sighted against the Dolphins and could not produce anything of note against the Dogs.
He missed a field goal from 15 metres out, right in front. That is a kick you'd expect any first grade halftime to ice with ease.
Let alone a million dollar halfback who has been handed the keys to the Sharks kingdom.
A post match comment from Paul Gallen suggesting that Sifa Talakai "ran too far" are laughable.
Talakai ran the ball hard, won the ruck and played the ball quickly. The pass from Blayke Brailey was near perfection.
Hynes just sprayed the kick.
It happens to the very best of them. Joey Johns had bad games. Cooper Cronk has missed field goals before.
The worry is that under any sort of pressure, Hynes seems unable to deliver.
I still maintain he was the best player on ground in the Sharks vs Cowboys preliminary final of 2022. He was the Sharks best in the horror loss to the Bunnies a week later.
Both were in losing efforts though.
He failed to get the job done, at home, against a spare parts Roosters side who were down to 12 men at one stage.
In Origins and finals games as the Sharks chief playmaker, Hynes sits at an unenviable zero wins from five attempts.
Again, blaming one player for negative results is often lazy, but as a million dollar halfback, it goes with the territory.
Hynes is hardly the only player to suffer a form slump in the past few weeks, but again, you cannot dodge the wrath of fans and pundits alike when you're wearing the number seven and sitting on a seven figure contract.
The Sharks last win, with Hynes in the side, came all the way back in Magic Round on the 18th of May.
Hynes missed the Broncos win, and was also absent when Daniel Atkinson and Cameron McInnes played in the halves in a winning effort against the Storm.
His Origin selection ruled him out of the loss to the Eels, so it does make the month-plus long losing streak look slightly worse than it is in reality.
Zero losses from three though, especially as big favourites in all three contests, does not make for good reading for Hynes.
The only positive right now is that the Sharks had such a brilliant start to the season that they can cop a few losses and still qualify for finals.
Adding to the eternal optimism that keeps us Sharks fans coming back, Hynes managed to overcome his form slump last year to drag his side to another finals appearance.
Hynes has all the talent to do it again. As a Sharks fan I back him in. I have to!
