2024 End of Season reviews: Cronulla Sharks

As the 2024 NRL season nears its conclusion, it’s time to look back on the teams that fell short of September and what they got right and wrong in their respective seasons.

In this edition, we look at the Cronulla Sharks' 2024 season with started with so much promise and then hit a low point before rebounding and making a Preliminary final for the first time since 2018.

Cronulla Sharks

Ladder: 4th
Record: 16-8 (222)

Lost Qualifying Final 37 v 10 v Melbourne
Won Semi Final 26-18 v North Queensland
Lost Preliminary Final 26-6 v Penrith

It was a strange year for the Cronulla Sharks and coach Craig Fitzgibbon who ticked off many boxes but finished the year with a sour taste. The Sharks were the hottest team in the competition at the start of the year and many thought they had turned the corner when they sat in first after Round 11 with a 9-1 record. However, a 42-0 home defeat to Penrith, waning form of their superstar halfback in Nicho Hynes and their inability to punch above their weight proved their downfall.

Ultimately, the Sharks finally broke the seven-match losing streak in finals which dated back to 2018 but at no stage did anyone think they were a realistic chance to take home the Premiership which is a major concern.

Highlight: Sharks stamp Premiership credentials with fabulous fortnight

After Round 9, the Sharks sat equal first on the ladder alongside eventual minor premiers Melbourne with a 7-1 record. Commentators and fans were skeptical over whether Cronulla were the real deal in 2024 or if their soft start to the season was a false dawn. Those questions would be answered when Cronulla travelled South to Melbourne to take on the Storm in a 1v2 battle and beat them 25-18 to take outright top spot. Fitzgibbon was also without Nicho Hynes for the match.

The Sharks would back it up a week later with a strong 38-30 win over the Sydney Roosters at Magic Round in one of the games of the season.

Honourable Mentions: Semi final win v Cowboys

Lowlight: The regression of Nicho Hynes

The last thing you want as a club is constant chatter around potentially dropping your $1 million marquee player but that is exactly what happened with Cronulla’s Nicho Hynes who hit the first big test in his career. The first half of the year went according to plan but following Hynes’ below-par State of Origin Game I performance, Hynes struggled to put together solid performances together and most concerningly, went missing in big games.

Unfortunately, the poor outings began to snowball which led to an unfair pile on towards Hynes who then battled the final few weeks of the season with a serious injury. The star halfback overshadowed Cronulla’s season and now leaves the Sharks with big questions heading into the 2025 season.

Honourable Mentions: Round 12 loss v Penrith, Qualifying final loss v Melbourne

Best Player: Braydon Trindall

Trindall quickly became the Sharks’ most important player towards the back end of the year and put in a finals performance for the ages against the Cowboys. Trindall finished the night with two tries, 106 running metres, 635 kicking metres, one linebreak, one try assist and one line break assist in a near-perfect display.

The 25-year-old played a career-high 20 games for the Sharks in the 2024 campaign which produced 12 tries, 338 average kicking metres and 18 try assists. A breakout year for Trindall.

Honourable Mentions: Daniel Atkinson and Blayke Brailey

What they need for 2025: Get a bit of X-Factor

The Cronulla Sharks were the only side that didn’t have a representative player in Game II and III of the 2024 State of Origin series which is a massive indictment on the club. It speaks to the lack of star power at the Sharks which has proven to be their downfall during the tenure of Fitzgibbon. The Sharks are in desperate need of a match-winner who can break a game apart. As it currently stands, there isn’t a player on the roster that fits the brief.

Early 2025 prediction: 12th

Grade: B+

The Sharks are currently in purgatory which is where no professional sports team ever wants to be. They aren’t a bad team by any imagination but they aren’t a great team either and thus, aren’t a serious Premiership threat.

The arrival of Addin Fonua-Blake is a great addition to a forward pack that has had it’s problems but Craig Fitzgibbon needs Hynes to return to his Dally M form and role players to have career best years if they are to take the next step and match it with the likes of Penrith and Melbourne.