But the lovable prop says Saturday's 20-10 defeat of the dangerous Sydney Roosters is only the beginning for a Sharks side finally fed up with being finals cannon fodder.
A tight week-one finals clash only appeared beyond doubt for the Sharks when in-form hooker Blayke Brailey put Rudolf over for his first try of the season with four minutes to play.
"I was telling Blayke Brailey all year, 'Just one (try) mate, all I need is one'," Rudolf said.
"He kept giving me decoys and tonight he finally listened.
"Once he hit me with that ball, I wasn't being stopped, I was just stoked to get it over the line."
The try at point-blank range conjured memories of Sharks wrecking ball Andrew Fifita, whom Rudolf was seen embracing on-field in post-match scenes of jubilation.
Rudolf has gone at a rate of one try per season since he made his NRL debut, and declared his latest four-pointer the greatest moment of his 117 games, alongside his first try.
"Equal first, in 2020 I had a similar moment against the Warriors," he said.
"That was my first try in the NRL. This is my last (most recent) one.
"Probably a bit more do or die this one, elimination final, but I would love to live in that moment for a bit longer than a minute. I'd love to live in it for an hour to be honest, or a day."
Making the latest moment extra special for Rudolf was the chance to help seal just the Sharks' second win from their past 10 finals matches dating back to 2018.
That recent record would no doubt have contributed to pundits dismissing the Sharks' premiership chances this September, despite a run of seven wins from eight games before finals.
Rudolf doesn't care if others have lost faith in the Sharks.
"I don't really listen to the external noise, I hear from a few people that no one gives us a chance, but so what?" Rudolf said.
"We give ourselves as a chance and that's all that matters. I don't care about the outside noise, I care about the inside noise and the inside noise is belief, belief in what we can do."
Asked what had changed this year, Rudolf said the Sharks had finally decided enough was enough.
The same core group of players has helped Cronulla qualify for the finals every years since Craig Fitzgibbon joined as coach in 2022, but has only once progressed to a preliminary final in that time.
"I think we're just sick of losing, we're sick of sitting in that bar over there and saying 'Next year'," Rudolf said.
"Next year is right now. I think that's the difference, we're mature now as a team.
"We're over it. We're maturing as a team. We're getting into the twilight, I'm 30 soon, so it's time to make a run before this dynasty ends."
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