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.
Canberra Raiders
The Raiders always knew they had a tough finish to the season and needed to be in a far stronger position than they were in. Games against the Storm, Sea Eagles and Roosters in the last month can hardly be blamed for them missing the finals, especially as they won against the Warriors, which they were expected too.
But you can't help but feel the Raiders should have achieved a lot more this year. They were widely viewed as a top-six candidate and have missed the finals altogether.
For a side that had a very miserable first half of the season though, things had finally started to turnaround until they met the Dragons in Round 15.
The Dragons had been floundering themselves and found themselves down 20 points to 8 not long after halftime. What transpired next summed up the Raiders' season.
Tries to Gerard Beale, youngster Tyrrel Sloan and Corey Norman in the space of 20 minutes gave the Dragons a two-point lead before they managed to hang onto the game and take the two points.
The next week, the Raiders lost 44 points to 6 against the Titans, which tells you all you need to know.
