Cronulla were seven offloads away from a $100,000 cheque, handing the Sea Eagles the 'pre-season challenge premiers' tag after the Sharks' conservative demolition of Canterbury.
The pre-season challenge was a hit in the concept's inaugural two-week run, however some have questioned the way it rewards off-the-cuff attacking football, namely the Cronulla Sharks.
The challenge offers up to 15 points per win within the tournament, broken down into 12 points for the win itself, plus a bonus point for scoring five or more tries, a point for five or more line breaks, and a point for ten or more offloads thrown.
The Sea Eagles picked up the full 15 against South Sydney in their 30-28 victory before falling one offload short in their 28-16 win over the Roosters, leaving them on 29 points and a for-and-against of +14.
Cronulla on the other hand picked up just 14 points in their 28-16 win over Newcastle after throwing just seven offloads, with the second-phase play eventually becoming their undoing.
Despite picking up bonus points for tries and scored and line breaks in their 36-16 victory over the Bulldogs at Belmore, and finishing with the greatest for-and-against in the pre-season challenge, the Sharks threw just two offloads - and cost themselves $100,000.
It's the same figure handed over to the winner of the J.J. Giltinan shield, awarded for winning the minor premiership.
It appears the challenge wasn't a talking point in Cronulla camp, with lock forward Dale Finucane not even aware of the pre-season competition until late in their second trial.
"I've only just become aware of that challenge," Finucane toldย Fox Sportsย post-match.
"I wasn't even aware until the end when the boys were calling out for the offloads, but it would've been nice to win."
Sharks coach Craig Fitzgibbon was in a similar boat to Finucane, unaware until it was too late.
"I was only aware of it too late. I said 'go for it', but it's really hard," Fitzgibbon said in his post-match press conference.
"It can change a mentality if you go and chase it. There's a bigger picture at play here."
Despite being unaware originally, Fitzgibbon believes rewarding offloads wasn't a fair way to measure the challenge.
"The thought behind it is great, because you want to see footy played," he said.
"But how is an offload more entertaining than a normal pass? I'm not sure.
"If you looked at a metric of winning, do offloads win games? So why are we awarding it as a win? I don't get it.
"It's exciting to watch, but it's not what's going to happen in the rounds. So why is that the deciding metric?"
The Sharks will now prepare for their home ground Round 1 clash against the South Sydney Rabbitohs, with Fitzgibbon and the entire squad eager to avenge their straight-set semi-final exit at the hands of the Bunnies.
