The Sharks raced in 16 tries and led 44-0 at half-time with James Kelly scoring four tries in a fixture that allowed the hosts to rest key players, including captain-coach Jake Hawkins.

“I was carrying a few niggling injuries and wanted to give James Kelly some more minutes and I thought he was one of our best and played 80 minutes,” Hawkins said.

“He’s previously only had 30 or 40-minute stints.”

Unless the Sharks have their final appeal to the Country Rugby League overturned during the week, they can finish no better than fifth.

They will now face an elimination final on the road to Old Bar on August 4-5 following their final-round clash with Wingham.

Results worked both for and against Port Macquarie at the weekend – with Wingham’s victory over Taree City on Saturday putting the Bulls out of business.

Unfortunately for the Sharks, the Tigers win also enabled them to secure third spot on the ladder and a double chance in the finals.

Old Bar’s defeat at the hands of Port City kept them one point above the Sharks in fourth position.

But they will gain another three points courtesy of Macleay Valley’s forfeit with the two sides originally scheduled to play next weekend.

Hawkins admitted his team were “just happy we’ve made the finals.”

“Once our points got taken away we were last so getting into the finals from there is a massive effort anyway,” he said.

He admitted despite the probability of finishing no better than fifth, the Sharks would still be focused on a strong performance at Wingham.

“We’re really stoked we’ve made the finals after everything we went through,” Hawkins said.

“That’s why we’d love to go down there and get a win before the semis start.

“It’s been a massive effort from the club to get there so I think once we get there we’ll be ready.”