Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks District Rugby League Football Club in the grand final. Of a legitimate, unified competition.

The last time that happened, disco wasn't dead.

It's difficult to encapsulate the feeling of two parts relief, mixed in with three parts astonishment and a liberal sprinkling of bewilderment that engulfed Sharks fans after Friday night's 32-20 win over premiers North Queensland in the grand final qualifier.

Even after knocking the Cowboys to the canvas en route to a 26-point lead, Cronulla's truest believers dared not allow themselves to contemplate the impending fact that they'd made the big dance until the full-time siren sounded and the first of the eleventeen renditions of Up, Up Cronulla blared over the Allianz Stadium loudspeakers. Sidebar: The legitimacy of each Sharks supporter was tested when verse two rolled around each time. For the uninitiated, the oft-confused line you're struggling with is "The name of the Sharks fits you".

Whereas in the past Cronulla have stumbled spectacularly at the preliminary final hurdle – four times from as many attempts in the past 18 seasons – the tired Cowboys were the ones who coughed up possession, turned on each other and virtually handed the gift of grand final qualification to their opponents. It was reminiscent of Cronulla's most recent preliminary final in 2008 when they choked away a golden opportunity to beat a depleted Melbourne Storm side and copped a 28-0 caning.

And with the Cowboys clearly suffering from fatigue after their arduous extra-time win over the Broncos in Townsville the previous weekend, the rested Sharks took the bait.

James Maloney was magnificent, cashing in on the groundwork laid by the swarming forward pack laden with representative stars and revitalised journeymen. Canberra centre Joey Leilua has been the NRL's most improved player in 2016, but Sharks prop Matt Prior is a close second.

This Cronulla squad is one that can win the competition. Whether they do or not is still well and truly up in the air, but it's a group of players unburdened by the weight of history.

Ignorance is indeed bliss in this scenario because these young Sharks aren't weighed down by the club's torturous past.

It's not that they don't care, it's just that they're mostly unaware of previous playoff calamities and are more intent on carving their own slice of history.

They've already done that by qualifying for Cronulla's first asterisk-free grand final since 1978.

They will be a dangerous opponent on grand final day because the hard work has been done.

The black, white and blue faithful have been sated by the not-so-simple fact that they've earned their spot on what used to be the last Sunday in September (first Sunday in October just doesn't have that same ring).

There was no sense of foreboding among the Cronulla supporters as they exited Allianz Stadium on Friday night as they looked ahead to next Sunday, many of them rearranging plans and talking about tickets, a topic they'd previously avoided or spoken about with self-deprecating hesitancy.

Most didn't know how to react because a winning finals side has, up until now, been quite the foreign concept.

The collective vibe inside the squad and from the brow-beaten but never bowed fan base should be nothing but positive leading up to kick-off and the 80-odd minutes thereafter.

Cronulla have earned the right to play in a grand final.

Of course they want to win and naturally they'll be devastated if they don't but now – now they've done what was ever necessary to qualify – they are in prime position to turn the club's 50th season into one in a million.