Cronulla have overcome the absence of around $3 million in big-name players to beat NRL heavyweights Melbourne 20-18 at PointsBet Stadium.
In one of the great backs-to-the-wall efforts, the Sharks youngsters bore the brunt of the Storm early before taking charge of the match moments before halftime.
John Morris's men then withstood a late Storm surge, with the visitors getting back within two points when Ryan Papenhuyzen ran onto a Kenny Bromwich offload with three minutes to play.
Without the likes of Shaun Johnson, Matt Moylan, Wade Graham and Aaron Woods, youngsters Kyle Flanagan and Braden Hamlin-Uele stood up in the Sharks win.
In just his third NRL game, Flanagan rolled in two crucial grubbers that changed the momentum of Friday's match as the Sharks appeared destined to trail 12-6 at the break.
After he forced a line dropout just with a short kick, he grubbered early for rookie Briton Nikora on the ensuing set to put Cronulla back in the match at 12-12.
The 20-year-old then booted the Sharks ahead after the break via a penalty goal, before Hamlin-Uele took the hosts' lead to eight with a powerful run to the line.
It was the headline moment of a strong game from the bench prop, who finished with four tackle busts to go with his first NRL try.
"It's just this young batch coming through, they don't fear much," Morris said.
"They're still untested at this level. But I've got great faith and belief in them - that's why I've been able to hand out five debuts.
"It was a bit of a baptism of fire for them ... I'm just glad they've had that game where they've fought and stayed in the battle and beat a good team."
Flanagan and Chad Townsend then controlled the game, keeping 63 per cent of the ball in the second half.
It marked the first time the Sharks have scored 20 in a match against the Storm since way back in 2005 - some 23 match-ups ago.
But while the Sharks were controlled, the Storm were anything but with coach Craig Bellamy questioning if they'd taken injury-ravaged teams lightly after a narrow win over a depleted Warriors last week.
"That's one thing we have been pretty strong at (not doing) over the years," Bellamy said.
"But the last couple of weeks I'm starting to doubt this group has got that. And we better find it or I'll be finding some new players.
"There's a lot of players in that team who have got a lot of points up, so there will be a couple tapped on the shoulder saying that need to improve.
"We aren't playing games out like Storm teams play games out."
Jesse Bromwich and Josh Addo-Carr had earlier both crossed for tries for Melbourne, but were denied a third through a Kenny Bromwich obstruction that came back to bite them.