The NRL has been reduced to eight teams, and the finals are here. Four weeks of glorious rugby league, which will crown the champion for 2021.
It's been another chaotic season with rule changes changing the fabric of the game, and more teams than ever struggling in a big way.
Despite that, we still had a race for the top eight which came down to the final day of the season as the Gold Coast Titans blew the New Zealand Warriors out of the water to knock the Cronulla Sharks out of the competition.
The Canberra Raiders were also in the running in the final round before they lost to the Sydney Roosters, while the Warriors themselves, as well as the St George Illawarra Dragons and Wests Tigers were in realistic contention up until the end of Round 23, and mathematical miracle level contention until Round 24.
The Brisbane Broncos, North Queensland Cowboys and Canterbury Bulldogs also missed the finals.
But what was the moment where their seasons took an irreversible trip to the bottom of the table? This is the moment for your eliminated club which sucked all the life out of the season.
St George Illawarra Dragons
This isn't going to be an on-field incident. It shouldn't come as a surprise either.
The Dragons were, well, they weren't exactly humming along, but they were certainly in finals contention after a blistering start to the season which included a shock win over the Parramatta Eels.
And then things which had been steadily worsening got a whole lot worse in a hurry. Paul Vaughan's infamous barbecue in the middle of COVID times. Stupid beyond belief.
Vaughan wouldn't play another game for the club, 12 players got suspended and the Dragons went on to lose eight straight to end the season.
It was a shambles - about as bad as you could possibly imagine an incident impacting a team.
