It was the ultimate payback and the ultimate irony.

Sharks reject Preston Campbell returned to Toyota Park to put the final nail in the coffin of Cronulla's bitterly disappointing National Rugby League season.

Campbell crossed for the crowning try in Penrith's 20-0 shut-out of the Sharks and then, as he munched on a celebratory Vegemite sandwich, the league's 2001 player of the year dined out on the ineptness of his former club.

"It was good to get a try. I think they wanted me to get a try - they didn't really try that hard (to stop me)," Campbell said.

The swipe was unintentional from one of the game's genuine Mr Nice guys, but there was no doubting he took great pleasure in playing a leading role in the Sharks' demise.

Squeezed out of Cronulla last season following the arrival of former Test halfback Brett Kimmorley, Campbell was precisely the player Sharks coach Chris Anderson desperately needed.

In the absence of the injured Kimmorley, Cronulla was listless in attack and has now seemingly lost all hope of featuring in the playoffs after slipping six points adrift of the top eight.

"It's very disappointing," Anderson said.

"Our go-forward was great but every time we got down their end, we just seemed to lose our way.

"We put enough pressure on them to score three or four tries."

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