At some point, you are what your record says you are, which must be confusing for Cronulla because since 2022 they've had two of them.

There's the regular season one, which is imposing and impressive — 48 wins from 72 starts is an impressive return in anyone's language and puts them behind only Melbourne and Penrith for most wins in that time.

The Sharks have found a fast-paced, well-drilled style under Craig Fitzgibbon that works for them and from March to August it does a fine job.

But then there's the other Sharks, the ones whose struggles need no introduction because they've been talked about all week. Seven finals losses is unenviable but it's the four straight under Fitzgibbon that really makes for tough sledding.

It's not so much that the Sharks lost those games, it's how.

Be it the narrow losses to North Queensland and the Roosters or the heavy ones to South Sydney and Melbourne, there have been few periods where they look like the side who find the grind of the regular season so comfortable.

So Friday's match wasn't just against the Cowboys, it was a battle inside the Sharks as their best and worst selves fought out to see which one would survive.

Both sides had their moments but in the end there was enough of the good stuff for a 26-18 win that might not silence the doubters permanently, but it's a start.

For the first half, Cronulla looked much like their regular selves. Long periods of set-for-set football — there were just three penalties all night and not a single set restart — allowed them to get their game on, with Braydon Trindall leading the way.

It was his quick thinking in broken play that led to the opening penalty try, which seemed to settle Cronulla's nerves and allowed them to work their way into a rhythm and pace they're comfortable with.

Between Trindall's second try — which involved a fine piece of improvisation from Trindall and Jessie Ramien — and the sharp control he played with throughout, he was the best player on the field and so much of Cronulla's 24-0 half-time lead ran through him.

Trindall taking such a leading role in the side is no small thing given Fitzgibbon's Sharks have been so built around Nicho Hynes and the things he does well.

It has been open season on the halfback in recent times, especially after an unhappy night in Melbourne last week, as his big game performances come under the scrutiny that only comes when you're one of rugby league's biggest stars.

Hynes has been an extraordinarily dominant player since arriving at Cronulla, even for a halfback. Over the past two seasons, Hynes has averaged more touches of the ball than any non-dummy half in the competition.

Last year, in Cronulla's week one finals loss to an injury-hit Roosters side held together by good intentions and little else, Hynes touched the ball 87 times, a truly staggering amount, while Trindall only had it 35 times.

This time, the split was far more even — Trindall finished in front, 54 to 51. Hynes did not have one of his banner nights but because their combination is now more well-rounded, he didn't have to.

From that base, the Sharks finally got their game on when it mattered most. The back five got going in yardage, the forwards worked off the back of that — especially Toby Rudolf, Cam McInnes and Briton Nikora, who all played as though a Cowboy had once wronged them in some deep and personal way.

At long last, we were seeing the best of the Sharks when it counted.

But the Cowboys are a tricky proposition, even down plenty. They boast attacking gifts which cannot always be controlled and that makes them dangerous — to both themselves and others — at all times.

A nervous 18-point lead does not seem like something that can be possible, but that's what settled on the SFS after Valentine Holmes scored just after the break. Once Reuben Cotter scored, plenty of throats were getting tight.

The Cowboys are not as consistent through their team as the Sharks but they managed to survive on outstanding individual efforts. Cotter's performance was one and Tom Dearden, who was at the heart of everything they did well, provided another.

If Scott Drinkwater, the ultimate rugby league gunslinger, had been able to fire a few bullseyes, it may well have been enough for North Queensland to run down the Sharks.

He was still likely, and quick on the draw, but the magic wouldn't come. Passes went forward, drop-outs went out on the full and when he did burst into space, a last-second ankle tap from Will Kennedy saved a certain try.

Cronulla dominated possession and field position in the second half and closed the game out through Trindall's kicking game. It was not as flashy as the first half, but it was effective and that's all it had to be.

It will take a far more complete effort if the Sharks are to match it with Penrith in next week's preliminary final.

They haven't scored a try against the Panthers since July of 2022 after being outscored 70-0 across their two matches over the past two seasons, including a 42-0 smash-up — at Shark Park, no less — earlier this year when Cronulla were top of the table and riding high.

They won't have forgotten that and they'll be after revenge. Forty good minutes won't be enough. Eighty of their best still might not be.

But by the end of this weekend, there will be four teams left in the competition and Cronulla will be one of them and after the collapses of recent years, that's worth something.

Sure, a thumping, riotous victory against the Cowboys might have slayed a few more demons but the losses they've copped in the past meant it didn't matter how their first win together happened, just that it happened at all.