Cronulla's season is over after the Sharks slumped to a 28-16 defeat to Manly in their elimination final on Saturday night.
The Sea Eagles blew Cronulla away with three tries in the opening 20 minutes despite missing a host of first grade stars.
The match was the 348th and final game of skipper Paul Gallen's career, with the Sharks legend bowing out as Cronulla's maiden premiership-winning captain.
It was also premiership-winning winger Sosaia Feki and local junior Jayden Brailey's final games in the black, white and blue before the pair leave the club at the end of the season.
Manly were without star fullback Tom Trbojevic and starting back-rowers Curtis Sironen and Joel Thompson with season ending injuries, while prop Martin Taupau was unavailable through suspension.
Despite being severely decimated, the Sea Eagles were able to continue their incredible record against Cronulla. Manly have now won 17 of their last 19 games against the Sharks, while Cronulla have lost 40 of their 49 games at Brookvale Oval.
Manly opened the scoring after eight minutes when hooker Apisai Koroisau darted over from dummy half on the back of a strong Addin Fonua-Blake charge.
The Sea Eagles were flapping their wings three minutes later when Moses Suli exploded through a hole close to Cronulla's line thanks to a crisp Daly Cherry-Evans cut out pass.
All of a sudden it was 18-0 after as many minutes when Brad Parker touched down from a Cherry-Evans grubber kick. Referee Matt Cecchin awarded a try on field with senior review official Jared Maxwell upholding the decision, though replays had some Sharks fans questioning whether Parker had grounded the ball.
Cronulla needed an immediate response and got it when Wade Graham fired a cut out pass at Bronson Xerri for the young centre to stroll over untouched to get the Sharks on the board.
The match then descended into an arm wrestle for the rest of the first half with chances limited as the Sea Eagles took an 18-4 lead to half-time.
It wasn't that the Sharks were playing badly. They had a better completion rate than Manly at the break and had made less errors. But Cronulla's horrible 26 missed tackles compared to Manly's five gave the Sea Eagles a giant leg up as the hosts took their chances with three tries in a 10-minute blitz.
Cronulla were right back into the contest five minutes into the second half when Shaun Johnson floated a pass over the top to Aaron Gray for the winger to touch down out wide.
But the Sharks gave the momentum straight back to Manly when Fonua-Blake charged over through some flimsy Cronulla goal line defence to score next to the posts.
The Sea Eagles were in control for much of the second half, with Brendan Elliot's try with 10 minutes to play sealing the result and Manly's passage into week two of the finals.
Josh Morris scored a late consolation try for Cronulla to end his strong debut season with the Sharks on a positive note.
For Cronulla it is a season of what might have been, while Manly will take on South Sydney in another elimination final next weekend, with the winner to face the Raiders in Canberra in the preliminary final.
Leader Scoreboard
Manly Sea Eagles 28 (Apisai Koroisau, Moses Suli, Brad Parker, Addin Fonua-Blake tries. Reuben Garrick four goals)
defeated
Cronulla Sharks 16 (Bronson Xerri, Aaron Gray, Josh Morris tries. Shaun Johnson two goals)
at Brookvale Oval
Leader man of the match: Daly Cherry-Evans (Sea Eagles)
