While it remains wildly unlikely, Canterbury Bulldogs' NRL top-eight hopes remarkably remain alive, after their spirited 12-6 upset of Parramatta.
On Thursday night, Dean Pay's men showed their rebuild has come a long way over the last few months, as they provisionally moved to within two points of eight-placed Cronulla.
Should they win their final two games against North Queensland and Brisbane - and 11 other results run their way - they would miraculously find themselves in the finals.
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They are now AU$51 with bookmakers to make the top eight.
Regardless of their eventual fate, it has been a remarkable turnaround for a side that has had the wooden spoon dangling over their heads most of the year and were in last spot up until round 15.
Since State of Origin, they have won six of eight, with all those victories against sides that were in the top eight at the time.
"When we came back from the break, we spoke about wanting to finish off the season the best way we possibly can," Bulldogs coach Dean Pay said.
"We spoke about putting a lot of energy into our defence. Over the last 6-7 weeks, that's what's kept us in games and given us the opportunity to win games."
Pay described Thursday's spiteful win over the Eels - regarded by many as one of the games of the season - as the best victory he'd been involved in since taking over in 2018.
They got home thanks to a Nick Meaney penalty try with 10 minutes remaining, after Mitchell Moses lashed out with his boot in an attempt to stop the Bulldogs winger from scoring.
After outlasting the Eels, the Bulldogs could rightly be considered one of the form teams of the competition.
Kieran Foran continues his remarkable resurgence and looks injury free for the first time in a long time, while Dylan Napa had arguably his best game in several years, with 166 metres. Josh Jackson was his usual tireless self and Will Hopoate was brilliant, running for a game-high 205 metres.
Their only losses in the last two months have come against Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters.
While Pay refuses to put a timeline on when he expects the proud club to be back in the finals, he felt like they had turned a corner.
"They care about one another and they're building a lot of team spirit," Pay said. "We want to be a top-four team and however long that takes, it takes.
"Once we get there, we want to be a consistent top-four footy team. We need to get a lot of things in place.
"It's not going to happen overnight, but over the last month, things are starting to turn for us."
HOLDING ON TO A MIRACLE
The 11 results that would need to go the Bulldogs' way for them to qualify for the finals
ROUND 23
- North Queensland beat Penrith
- South Sydney beat Brisbane
- Warriors beat Cronulla
- Newcastle beat Wests Tigers
ROUND 24
- Parramatta beat Brisbane
- Sydney Roosters beat Penrith
- Canberra beat Cronulla
- St George Illawarra beat Wests Tigers
ROUND 25
- Canberra beat Warriors
- Wests Tigers beat Cronulla
- Newcastle beat Penrith
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