Sharks v Roosters: Which team has more issues to overcome?

With Sydney and Cronulla both 1-2, Ben Gardiner has given his thoughts on which side faces more issues.

With the two sides making finals last year, hopes were high among each fan group for continued success in 2026.

But having lost the majority of their games so far, the pressure has slightly crept up.

Focusing on the Roosters, the Samoa coach is not concerned about their finals chances just yet despite big losses to the Warriors and Panthers.

But he notes their hopes of a double chance are now in doubt.

“I’d be worried about a top four finish,” Gardiner explained on SEN’s Front Office with Vossy.

“But I wouldn’t be worried about a top-eight finish. I think losing early games is an indication that the consistency is not going to be there throughout the season. Because they would have been consistent from the start.

“I don’t think you can put the red line through them straight away because they’re still got cohesion issues, they're still connecting through their spine.

“I think they are still within a chance.”

But when comparing the tricolours to the Sharks, Gardiner believes the Roosters have more issues to overcome.

“I think Cronulla has played two of the better teams in the competition,” he continued.

“That’s one of the differences. I think through playing the Panthers last weekend and the Dolphins this weekend, they are actually getting a really good idea of where they’re at and what they need to work on.

“Roosters obviously played the Panthers as well (this week), and that was a whitewash; they run over the top of them.

“I think for them, they’ve got more issues than Cronulla because they have got to build the cohesion and they’ve got to build the combinations in the spine.

“Whereas Cronulla already have that.”

The Roosters are off to Brookvale Oval on Thursday night with Daly Cherry-Evans playing against the Sea-Eagles for the first time.

SEN League will be calling the match live with our coverage beginning from 7pm AEDT. That can be heard across SEN’s radio network and on the SEN app.

The Sharks are travelling to the nation’s capital to take on the Raiders in a semi-final rematch on Sunday.