Controversy around crowd sizes, which ground an elimination final should be played at, and a mad rush for tickets will finally give way to knockout rugby league on Saturday evening when the Cronulla Sharks tackle the Sydney Roosters in the Shire.
The Sharks - whose home ground is currently under renovations - will welcome a tick over 12,000 fans in a sell-out to a game that has seen rival clubs fans see blue throughout the week.
But none of that will matter when the two sides step onto the field.
And while some will suggest neither of these sides is all that worthy of playing finals football, there are reasons both could yet make a deep run through September.
The Sharks, who hosted a qualifying final at this venue last year before going out in straight sets, were in contention for the top four at one stage but just haven't clicked to the same level this year, with Nicho Hynes still a danger, but unable to deliver at the miraculous standard all year that he did in the last campaign.
On the other side of the coin, the Roosters have struggled for much of the year but managed to come good late. By Trent Robinson's own admission, the Roosters left their run too late, but through other results and five straight wins to the end of the year, they managed to sneak into the top eight.
Their form will have other sides - including the Sharks - worried, with a team of match-winners who have been here and done this before under one of the game's most successful coaches.
The battles in the middle during this contest will be ferocious, and the ability to score points on both sides of the ledger will make this one must-watch.
Team news
Cronulla Sharks
1. Connor Tracey 2. Sione Katoa 3. Jesse Ramien 4. Siosifa Talakai 5. Ronaldo Mulitalo 6. Braydon Trindall 7. Nicho Hynes 8. Toby Rudolf 9. Blayke Brailey 15. Royce Hunt 11. Briton Nikora 12. Wade Graham 13. Cameron McInnes
Interchange: 14. Jack Williams 16. Thomas Hazelton 17. Oregon Kaufusi 20. Jesse Colquhoun
Reserves: 18. Kayal Iro 19. Daniel Atkinson
The Sharks originally made no changes to their side, who managed a win over the Canberra Raiders to book a home final last weekend but have since had to have Braden Hamlin-Uele ruled out.
The prop has been replaced in the starting side by power packet prop Royce Hunt.
Jesse Colquhoun is the new man on the interchange bench.
There are also significant questions over who will play fullback for the Sharks. Connor Tracey was injured last weekend, and Kayal Iro has been left on the reserves list alongside Daniel Atkinson, with William Kennedy also out injured.
Sydney Roosters
1. James Tedesco 2. Fetalaiga Pauga 3. Billy Smith 4. Joseph Manu 5. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 6. Luke Keary 7. Sam Walker 8. Fletcher Baker 9. Brandon Smith 10. Lindsay Collins 11. Siua Wong 12. Nat Butcher 13. Victor Radley 14. Sandon Smith 15. Egan Butcher 16. Terrell May 17. Angus Crichton 20. Corey Allan 19. Naufahu Whyte
The Roosters will likely welcome Joseph Manu back for this one. There are still question marks about him just a fortnight since he injured his hamstring, but he has been named and every indiciation is that he will play.
Corey Allan is still in the 19-man squad though at the 24-hour update, so is on standby.
The Roosters are evidently somewhat concerned, given they have axed utility Drew Hutchison despite the fact he was named in the number 18 jumper earlier in the week.
Regular season matches
Round 7: Cronulla Sharks 22 defeat Sydney Roosters 12 at PointsBet Stadium
The Sharks found themselves behind at halftime in a game with more controversy - isn't that becoming a theme - but were able to run away with the win.
At halftime, the Roosters had taken the led through tries to Egan Butcher and Brandon Smith after watching Matt Moylan score first. Three unanswered tries for the Sharks in the second half to Ronaldo Mulitalo, Blayke Brailey and Briton Nikora saw the club win, but the Roosters finished with just 11 on the field after Brandon Smith and Victor Radley were both sin binned.
Of particular note, the Sharks exposed Sam Walker in defence in this game. The young half missed eight tackles and was dropped afterwards, only returning in recent weeks after a knee injury prevented him from doing so following his initial stint in NSW Cup.
Keys to the game
The Roosters spine clicking as one unit
It has been nearly impossible to ignore the subtle changes the Roosters have made in going about their business in recent weeks.
The spin has led the way in those changes.
The most obvious is the move of Sam Walker into the seven, and Luke Keary back to the six, but they have been able to play a lot better on the back of a change from Brandon Smith.
The New Zealand international and former Storm dummy half is running the ball more. There are no two ways about it. It's the best element of his game, and when on display, has been dangerous. He, in some ways, hammered the Rabbitohs with it last week.
All of that has combined to see James Tedesco playing the best footy of his season too, and that has been achieved by touching the ball less.
Tedesco hasn't touched the ball more than 30 times in any of his last four games, despite doing so in six of his previous nine prior to that, and yet, has had his four best games of the season, with try involvements and strong plays by the truckload.
Limiting Nicho Hynes
Nicho Hynes, no matter which way you spin it, is still so critical to Cronulla's performances.
It was more so the case last year, but not much has changed, despite the form of Braydon Trindall in the five-eighth role. He has freed up Hynes to play more of his game, but with no certainty over the fullback slot and creativity in some ways lacking elsewhere, Hynes will have to produce a bulk of Cronulla's points.
There is little doubt he can do it, though. He is freakishly talented and, at his best, unstoppable.
The Roosters must put him under pressure early. It's a charge that has to be led by Lindsay Collins and Victor Radley, but it must be a careful charge.
Step over the line, and they could short-change their side.
Both the Sharks and Roosters need to find a balance in the Nicho Hynes equation, and whichever one finds it faster and hits the mark more consistently will be a giant step closer to victory.
Cronulla's forwards standing up
The injury issues in the Cronulla forward pack are well-known. There is no Dale Finucane, no Teig Wilton, and now no Braden Hamlin-Uele after he was ruled out 24 hours before kick-off.
That, to a forward pack who were already considered by a vast majority of pundits heading into the season to be already understrength and in need of an addition or two, particularly in the middle.
That said, the Sharks have the tenacious Cam McInnes to lead the way with the size and strength of Toby Rudolf and Royce Hunt. Briton Nikora on the edge is crucial to their performances, while Jack Williams has been a star off the bench this year.
Jesse Colquhoun and Thomas Hazelton could be where this game is decided, though.
Their efforts off the bench need to be top-class if the Sharks are going to go from whistle to siren with the in-form tri-colours.
Prediction
This is an exceptionally tricky game to call.
The Sharks playing at home should almost always give them an advantage, and they have enough talent on their side to cause plenty of headaches.
But not knowing what's happening at fullback, as well as the reliance on Nicho Hynes having a strong game, makes them a tough proposition to tip.
That gets even tougher when you consider the Roosters form. Five straight, and more importantly, their style on the field has changed. It's a slight tweak, but the way their spine has clicked makes you feel like they could make a serious push into September.
This could be the toughest part of their run, but I'm tipping them to get the job done in a thriller.
Roosters by 6.
Key game information: Cronulla Sharks vs Sydney Roosters, NRL elimination final
Kick-off: 7:50pm, Saturday, September 9
Venue: PointsBet Stadium, Cronulla
TV: Fox Sports, Channel 9
Online: Kayo Sports, Foxtel App, 9 Now
Betting: Roosters $1.85, Sharks $1.95
Referee: Gerard Sutton
Overall record: Played 100, Roosters 63, Sharks 35, Drawn 2
Record in finals: Played 2, Roosters 2, Sharks 0
What happens to the winner and loser?
This is an elimination final - simply put, the loser is out. That's the end of their season.
For the winner, they will head into Week 2 of the finals, where they will travel to Melbourne for a clash with the (likely) understrength Storm, who went through a battle and a half against the Brisbane Broncos on Friday evening but failed to score a point.
Zero Tackle will run a live blog, scores and stats of the game in our match centre from 7:50pm (AEST) on Saturday evening.
