The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks are an Australian professional
rugby league
Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...
club based in
Cronulla, in the
Sutherland Shire,
Southern Sydney,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. They compete in the
National Rugby League (
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
),
Australasia
Australasia is a region that comprises Australia, New Zealand and some neighbouring islands in the Pacific Ocean. The term is used in a number of different contexts, including geopolitically, physiogeographically, philologically, and ecologica ...
's premier rugby league competition. The Sharks, as they are commonly known, were admitted to the
New South Wales Rugby League premiership
The New South Wales Rugby League premiership was the first rugby league football club competition established in Australia and contributor to today's National Rugby League. Run by the New South Wales Rugby League (initially named the New Sout ...
, predecessor of the
Australian Rugby League and the current
National Rugby League competition, in January 1967. The club competed in every premiership season since then and, during the
Super League war, joined the
rebel competition before continuing on in the re-united NRL Premiership. The Sharks have been in competition for 56 years, appearing in four
grand finals
Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...
, winning their first premiership in
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
after defeating the
Melbourne Storm at
Stadium Australia.
History
In 1967 the
New South Wales Rugby Football League (NSWRFL) added two new clubs to the competition, Cronulla-Sutherland and Penrith, the first to join the competition since Parramatta and Manly were admitted 20 years earlier in 1947.
Founded by Peter Burns, Cronulla debuted in 1967 wearing a sky blue jersey adorned with a white V and red numbers on the back, at the then club home ground of Sutherland Oval, under the captaincy of multiple premiership-winner
Monty Porter
Montague "Monty" Porter PSM (1934–2011) was an Australian premiership winning and state representative rugby league footballer who played in the 1950s and 1960s. He was a second rower with the St. George Dragons during their eleven-year p ...
and the coaching of
Ken Kearney
Kenneth Howard "Killer" Kearney (3 May 192418 August 2006) was an Australian rugby footballer – a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Australia national rugby ...
. Cronulla earned immediate recognition when they beat
Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to:
Places
*Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India
*Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia
**Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia
Sports clubs
;Association football
*Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand
* Eastern ...
at the
Sydney Sports Ground
The Sydney Sports Ground No. 1 was a Stadium and Dirt track racing venue in Sydney, New South Wales. The ground was located where the car park of the Sydney Football Stadium (SFS) currently sits. The ground had two main grandstands and was surro ...
in their first match. They had only two more wins, against Norths and Parramatta, and finished last on the competition table.
In mid-1968 the club moved permanently to
Endeavour Field at
Woolooware
Woolooware is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolooware is located south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. It shares the 2230 postcode with Cronulla.
Woolooware stretches ...
, and became the only club in Sydney to own their own ground. Their first match there was against
Parramatta and the Cronulla Sharks won 10–7.
1970s
Cronulla made their first grand final in 1973 against
Manly-Warringah
The Manly Warringah Sea Eagles are an Australian professional rugby league club based in Sydney's Northern Beaches. The team colours are maroon and white, while their namesake and logo is the sea eagle. They compete in Australia's premier rugb ...
losing 10–7. Cronulla met the Manly club again in the 1978 grand final, leading 7–2 well into the second half, before Manly came back and brought the scoreboard to 7–11. It took a late penalty goal from
Steve Rogers to level scores at 11-all by full-time. The replay saw the Sharks opportunity pass by as they fielded a much-weakened team due to further injuries, eventually being shut-out by Manly 16–0. Cronulla were without suspended stars
Greg Pierce
Gregory Stuart Pierce (4 March 1950 – 24 June 2016) was an Australian rugby league player, coach and administrator. He played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and for Australia. He captained hi ...
and
Dane Sorensen in both games, while hooker
John McMartin, fullback
Mick Mullane and
Barry Andrews were all injured for the replay.
1980s
Cronulla suffered major financial trouble in 1983, with the NSWRL appointing an administrator and providing a loan. Western Suburbs and Newtown, both in a similar predicament, were refused a loan, with Newtown being forced out of the competition. Cronulla also made the final of the mid-week
KB Cup, but lost again to Manly, 26–6.
In 1985, Cronulla was buoyed by the arrival of 'super coach' Jack Gibson, who had coached Easts and Parramatta to premierships. Gibson left the club in good shape in 1987, with the promise fulfilled in 1988 when Cronulla won the minor premiership, led by veteran second-rower
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
, who was named
Dally M Player of the Year, and
Rothmans Medal winning halfback,
Barry Russell
Barry Russell (New South Wales, Australia), was a rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby League competition.
Russell played for Eastern Suburbs in the 1954 season and the North Sydney club in 1957.
Barry is the brother of D ...
. However, Russell dislocated his shoulder two weeks before the finals, and missed the semi-final where Cronulla went down to Canterbury. He was rushed back in for the final against Balmain, but he was severely hampered by the injury, and Cronulla were bundled out. A bright spot for the Sharks, though, was the selection in the Australian team of Miller, and young centres, Ettingshausen and
Mark McGaw.
In 1989, Cronulla sneaked into the finals after thrashing Illawarra 46–14 in the final round, followed by a memorable 38–14 victory over the Brisbane Broncos in the play-off for fifth position. However, they could not repeat the performance in their semi-final against eventual premiers Canberra, in what was their third game in seven days. Gavin Miller was rewarded for another great year with both the Dally M Player of the Year award and the Rothmans Medal.
1990s
Cronulla again dropped into a period of poor form and financial trouble in 1990, but the appointment as coach of rugby league Immortal,
Arthur Beetson
Arthur Henry "Artie" Beetson OAM (21 January 1945 – 1 December 2011 , in 1992 helped turn the on-field problems around. He helped develop a batch of promising players, including five-eighth
Mitch Healey
Mitch Healey (born 11 May 1969) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks.
Debut
His first grade debut was on Sunday, 23 July 1989 against the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs at ...
, fullback
David Peachey
David Peachey (born 21 April 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative , he played the majority of his club football in t ...
, winger
Richie Barnett, second-rower
Sean Ryan, prop
Adam Ritson
Adam Ritson (born 6 August 1976) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Parramatta Eels in the New South Wales Rugby League competition in Australia. His position of ch ...
, and hooker
Aaron Raper
Aaron Raper (born 28 July 1971) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. His position of choice was although he could also fill other spots in the team.
Raper played in Australia for the Cronulla-Su ...
, son of another Immortal,
Johnny Raper. However, Cronulla were forced into receivership in 1993.
Beetson was replaced as coach in 1994 by
John Lang, a former Australian hooker, and coach of the
Brisbane Easts team. Lang brought halfback,
Paul Green, down from Brisbane with him. A golden age for the club had begun, signalled by the two lower grade teams (President's Cup and Reserve grade) winning their competitions. During John Lang's coaching period, from 1994 to 2001, Cronulla made the semi-finals every year except for 1994 and 1998. The club had a glamorous image and attracted record crowds, with a corresponding financial improvement.
In 1995, Cronulla were one of the first clubs to join the
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
competition, which kicked off after protracted legal battles and much bitterness, in 1997. The club was motivated by a dissatisfaction with the perceived favouritism of the NSWRL administration towards other clubs, and a still-risky financial situation.
They reached the inaugural – and only – grand final of the ten-team Super League competition, only to lose to a vastly superior Brisbane side 26–8 in Brisbane. The game was notable for being the first grand final to be played outside Sydney. The club rejoined the reunited National Rugby League competition in 1998.
Arguably Cronulla's best season ever was in 1999, when they again won the
Minor Premiership and the
J. J. Giltinan Shield
The J.J. Giltinan Shield is an Australian rugby league trophy, awarded annually to the National Rugby League minor premiers. It was named after James J. Giltinan who was central to the founding of rugby league in Australia. Giltinan died in 195 ...
in convincing fashion. Cronulla-Sutherland easily accounted for the
Brisbane Broncos in the quarter-final, and led 8–0 in the grand final qualifier against arch rivals the
St George Illawarra Dragons before eventually losing 8–24. Also in 1999, the Cronulla-Sutherland name was dropped, and the club was simply known as the "Sharks", and would be known as this until the end of 2002.
2000s
Cronulla lost the grand final qualifier in similar circumstances in 2001, to eventual premiers Newcastle. The year was marked by the sudden rise of halfback
Preston Campbell, who was named Dally M Player of the Year, despite being a fringe first grader at the start of the season.
In 2002, John Lang was replaced by Australian coach
Chris Anderson, who had led Canterbury Bulldogs and Melbourne Storm to premierships. The following two years were the most acrimonious in the club's history. The first year was almost an on-field success, as Anderson retained the core of John Lang's team, and the Sharks again reached the grand final qualifier. However another heartbreaking loss to New Zealand, the replacement of halfback Preston Campbell – a crowd favourite – with former Melbourne halfback Brett Kimmorley, and a string of released players signaled trouble for 2003.
This was realised with the sudden mid-season departure of long-time stalwarts
Nick Graham and
Dean Treister
Dean Treister (born 19 December 1975) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s, and 2000s. A member of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks team, Treister played many games for the club from 1993 to 2003, including the ...
. The Sharks finished 11th, suffering a record 74–4 loss to Parramatta in a match marred by the controversial performance of referee
Shayne Hayne
Kevin John "Shayne" Hayne (born 31 October 1967 in Wellington, New South Wales,) is an Australian former rugby league referee. He officiated in the National Rugby League, City vs Country Origin, State of Origin series, All Stars Matches, the ...
. Three Cronulla players were sent from the field, including Sharks captain David Peachey, for ignoring the referee's instructions. Constant infighting between the board and the coach led to Anderson's departure at the end of the season.
The same year the club's name reverted to Cronulla-Sutherland, Chris Anderson was replaced by
Stuart Raper, another son of Johnny Raper, and the coach of the President's Cup-winning team in 1994. A loyal clubman, he instantly brought a revival in club and supporter spirit. However, Raper's apparent focus on team harmony rather than results led to Cronulla's win percentage worsening, from 49% (24 wins 27 losses) under Anderson, to 43% (31 wins 42 losses).
Steve Rogers, the CEO of the Cronulla Sharks and a former club legend, died on 3 January 2006 at the age of 51 of a "mixture of prescription drugs and alcohol". In April, 2006, the NSW state coroner ruled that the death was accidental.
On 21 April 2006, after much work and lobbying carried out by then-Chairman Barry Pierce and Sharks board member Brian Quinn, Peter Costello, on behalf of the Federal Government, announced they would be funding a $9.6 million upgrade to Toyota Park. The funds were primarily used to construct the Southern Stand which was never completed but later named the Monty Porter Stand.
Cronulla finished the 2006 season in disastrous fashion. After winning 8 out of 9 games in the middle of the season and climbing to near the top of the ladder, the team experienced the worst losing streak in the club's history, losing their last 10 consecutive games. In a see-sawing match to finish a tumultuous season, the Sharks in their final game coming back from 26–0 down only to lose 26–24 to Canberra. A missed penalty goal in the dying seconds of the match would have sent the game into extra-time, allowing the chance for Cronulla to equal the biggest single-game comeback in the history of top-level rugby league in Australia.
On 22 September 2006, the Sharks Board ended weeks of speculation over the future of Coach
Stuart Raper by sacking him as first-grade coach and handing him a sizeable payout, making him the second consecutive coach to receive such a payout. On 26 September, Australian Test Coach
Ricky Stuart signed a three-year deal to coach the Sharks as of 2007, replacing Raper.
![Sharkies Leagues Club Sign](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Sharkies_Leagues_Club_Sign.JPG)
Round one of the
2007 NRL season
The 2007 NRL season was the one hundredth season of professional rugby league football club competition in Australia, and the tenth run by the National Rugby League. Sixteen teams contested the NRL's 2007 Telstra Premiership, and with the inclusio ...
saw Cronulla-Sutherland break their 10-game losing streak against the
Penrith Panthers with an 18–0 victory at Toyota Park. Ricky Stuart led the Sharks to fifth on the ladder at the halfway mark of the season surprising many critics. Towards the end of the season, Cronulla plunged to 15th on the league ladder, slumping to seven straight losses. The season ended with the Sharks in 11th place, rounding off a heartbreaking season, with the club losing no less than nine matches by 4 points or less.
Cronulla-Sutherland had a strong season in 2008, finishing the season in equal first spot (third on for and against). They had one of the best defensive records, but one of the worst attacking records in the league. They had an excellent start to the season, beating defending grand finalists Manly and premiers Melbourne in away games in the first two rounds. After a comprehensive 36–10 victory over Canberra in the Qualifying Final at
Toyota Stadium, Cronulla were beaten 28–0 by Melbourne (who later were found to be over the salary cap and cheating) in the Preliminary Final at the
Sydney Football Stadium
The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...
. This was a disappointing end to an otherwise successful season.
![ManlySeaEagles CronullaSharks Tackle](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/31/ManlySeaEagles_CronullaSharks_Tackle.JPG)
During the 2009 season Cronulla's dire financial problems became public knowledge. Asset-rich, owning its stadium and the surrounding land, but with cash flow problems due to its low average home gate and poor on-field performances in recent seasons, the club announced plans for a partial relocation to the Central Coast, which was rebuffed by the NRL. It was to split home games for the 2010–14 seasons among:
* 6 at
Endeavour Field, to include local derbies with the
St George Illawarra Dragons and
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs,
* 5 at
Central Coast Stadium in
Gosford
Gosford is the city and administrative centre of the Central Coast Council local government area in the heart of the Central Coast region, about north of Sydney and about south of Newcastle. The city centre is situated at the northern extre ...
,
Central Coast, and
* 1 at
Hindmarsh Stadium
Hindmarsh Stadium (currently known as Coopers Stadium due to sponsorship from Adelaide-based company Coopers Brewery) is a multi-purpose stadium in Hindmarsh, an inner western suburb of Adelaide, South Australia. It is the home of the Austral ...
in
Adelaide
Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...
,
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...
.
In May 2009, an
ABC
ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet.
ABC or abc may also refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting
* American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster
** Disney–ABC Television ...
Four Corners
The Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. The Four Corners area ...
investigation revealed the Sharks players involvement in a group sex scandal on a pre-season tour in 2002. The club further slid into crisis when it also emerged that CEO Tony Zappia had allegedly punched a female staff member and joked about it. Zappia and Coach Ricky Stuart also then attempted to bully the female staff member into retracting her complaint.
Zappia and Stuart were also investigated for their role around unusual financial transactions with Clint Elford, a fan who falsely claimed to be terminally ill, and who had sent money to Zappia and Stuart to spend on the Sharks . Elford was subsequently found guilty of fraud and Stuart refused to answer questions when the NRL launched an investigation. CEO Tony Zappia was investigated and subsequently sacked for his role.
On 26 May 2009 businessman
Damian Irvine
Damian J Irvine (born 25 May 1974, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator.
Early life
Irvine was born in Sutherland Shire, Sutherland, southern Sydney, and attended Yarrawarrah, Yarrawarra school, where he be ...
, together with a fresh board of directors, took over control of the club as the St George bank were threatening to foreclose.
They recorded 9 straight losses after a win in Round 1 in 2009 and despite a midseason revival with four straight wins, the Cronulla side slipped to ten straight defeats to equal the club's worst losing streak. One of these losses caused great controversy as the Sharks, playing against Manly, were forced to field just 12 men for most of the game after Luke Douglas was sent off by referee Phil Haines for a careless high tackle. The Sharks managed to avoid the wooden spoon in 2009 when the Roosters were soundly beaten by the Cowboys in the final round, resulting in a lower overall standing than the Sharks. Avoiding last position was a rare positive in a horror season for the Cronulla club.
2010s
2010
The start of the 2010 season saw Cronulla return confident of turning around recent disappointing results, however on-field performance remained poor. After the board developed a plan to refinance debt and a long-term financial strategy, Richard Fisk resigned in June 2010 due to his failure to find common ground with Chairman
Irvine Irvine may refer to:
Places On Earth Antarctica
*Irvine Glacier
*Mount Irvine (Antarctica)
Australia
*Irvine Island
*Mount Irvine, New South Wales
Canada
*Irvine, Alberta
* Irvine Inlet, Nunavut
United Kingdom
*Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
and his Board and a failure by Fisk to refresh the commercial area of the club. The club's head coach,
Ricky Stuart, also tendered his resignation and was replaced towards the back end of the season by his then-assistant coach Shane Flanagan.
Promising wing/centre
Blake Ferguson was criticized for comments about wanting to leave the club in order to achieve success. On Tuesday, 20 July Ricky Stuart left the Sharks for the rest of the season after admitting he could get no more out of the players and had "lost" them. Chairman
Irvine Irvine may refer to:
Places On Earth Antarctica
*Irvine Glacier
*Mount Irvine (Antarctica)
Australia
*Irvine Island
*Mount Irvine, New South Wales
Canada
*Irvine, Alberta
* Irvine Inlet, Nunavut
United Kingdom
*Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
opted to give a chance to Assistant NSW and Cronulla coach
Shane Flanagan
Shane Flanagan (born 2 December 1965) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach, and was the Head Coach of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. He was appointed assistant coach of NRL team Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2006 and was s ...
. After departing, Stuart also cited a fractured relationship with Chairman
Damian Irvine
Damian J Irvine (born 25 May 1974, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator.
Early life
Irvine was born in Sutherland Shire, Sutherland, southern Sydney, and attended Yarrawarrah, Yarrawarra school, where he be ...
as a reason for his departure despite the club making positive strides off-field under his guidance and commitment and Irvine making funds available to back Stuart in the player market as he wished.
2011
The 2011 season started so promising for the club. The addition of
Wade Graham at five-eighth and New Zealand international Jeremy Smith to a pack already containing two origin players promised an end to the Sharks' status as cellar-dwellers. Despite being humiliated by Canberra at
Canberra Stadium in round one, 40–12, the club won its next two matches. They beat defending premiers St. George Illawarra 16–10 at home in round two, and smashed Penrith 44–12 at Centerbet Stadium. Missing a number of first-team starters due to injury, Cronulla then lost five in a row to the
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
(26-18),
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles (19-13),
Newcastle Knights (24-20),
North Queensland Cowboys (30-12), and
South Sydney (31-12), dropping down the table, from 9th to 15th.
They broke their hoodoo in round ten, when they beat the struggling
Sydney Roosters 18–4 at Toyota Stadium. They were again disappointing in round eleven, when they were defeated 40-6 by Parramatta at
Parramatta Stadium
Parramatta Stadium was a sports stadium in Parramatta, New South Wales, Australia, 23 kilometres west of Sydney's central business district. The stadium was the home ground of several western Sydney-based sports teams, at the time of closure t ...
. Despite losing 14–8 to the Storm in round 12, they were much improved and forced Melbourne into a classic showdown at
AAMI Park
The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district.
When completed ...
in Melbourne. They then faced Brisbane at home in round 13, going down 34–16, before a bye in round 14 gave them the chance to regroup. While the Sharks were taking a much needed break skipper
Paul Gallen
Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian professional boxer and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiership in 2016. ...
led the NSW Blues Origin team to a memorable 18–8 victory over Queensland. He then played outstandingly for the Sharks in their round 15 match against Canterbury-Bankstown just three days after the State of Origin match, a game in which Cronulla beat Canterbury-Bankstown 26–10. The next four weeks saw a turnaround of the club's performance, with victory over the Gold Coast Titans 36-12 and the
South Sydney Rabbitohs 24–4, before they took revenge against the
Canberra Raiders 26–12.
2012
Cronulla lost their two props for the 2012 season, Origin representative Kade Snowden to Newcastle and Luke Douglas signing for the
Gold Coast Titans. Captain Paul Gallen's transformation into an Origin prop alleviated this problem somewhat, and the Sharks were active in the player market, signing prop Jon Green from St George, former Shark Isaac de Gois, prop Mark Taufua from Newcastle, halfback Jeff Robson from Parramatta and props Bryce Gibbs and Andrew Fifita from
Wests Tigers.
2012 began very well for the club under Chairman
Damian Irvine
Damian J Irvine (born 25 May 1974, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator.
Early life
Irvine was born in Sutherland Shire, Sutherland, southern Sydney, and attended Yarrawarrah, Yarrawarra school, where he be ...
, Coach Shane Flanagan. The recruitment by Mooney and Flanagan paid dividends with new recruits Jeff Robson, Andrew Fifita, Todd Carney, Ben Ross, Isaac De Gois and Mark Taufua taking pressure off Paul Gallen allowing him to hit a purple patch of form. The club won 6 matches in a row for the first time in over a decade and after 8 rounds were sitting third on the table as the highest placed Sydney based franchise.
A difficult State of Origin period saw injuries to captain Paul Gallen and star Todd Carney. Cronulla struggled to recover and struggled in the back half of the year, however still capped a remarkable turnaround by qualifying for their first finals series in 4 years, losing to Canberra in week one. The match notable for seeing Paul Gallen outplayed by young rival
Josh Papalii
Josh Papali'i (born 13 May 1992) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the National Rugby League (NRL). He has played for both Australia and Samoa at international level.
He has played at repres ...
and Todd Carney injuring his Achilles.
Sponsorship deals with SHARK Energy Drink, Fishermans Friends, and Luxbet flooded in and helped the financial situation off-field, with the close of Season 2012 seeing Shane Flanagan emerge as one of the game's leading up and coming head coaches and his mentor
Damian Irvine
Damian J Irvine (born 25 May 1974, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator.
Early life
Irvine was born in Sutherland Shire, Sutherland, southern Sydney, and attended Yarrawarrah, Yarrawarra school, where he be ...
the game's leading young administrator.
2013
At the beginning of Season 2013, Irvine stood down as chairman on learning of the questionable operational and duty of care practices of coach Shane Flanagan, and Darren Mooney during 2011 which exposed the club to the ASADA scandal. Flanagan was stood down and Peter Sharp stepped up to the head coaching role. Flanagan returned in 2013, a season in which the Sharks qualified for the competition semi finals, before he was forced to serve a 9-month suspension handed down by the
NRL
The National Rugby League (NRL) is an Australasian rugby league club competition which contains clubs from New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria, the Australian Capital Territory and New Zealand. The NRL formed in 1998 as a joint partnership ...
for breaches of basic governance and duty of care practices, thus validating the strong ethical stance made by
Irvine Irvine may refer to:
Places On Earth Antarctica
*Irvine Glacier
*Mount Irvine (Antarctica)
Australia
*Irvine Island
*Mount Irvine, New South Wales
Canada
*Irvine, Alberta
* Irvine Inlet, Nunavut
United Kingdom
*Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotla ...
and the board in March 2013.
Sharp again took over the reins, before resigning mid season the week after the club's greatest comeback victory, with the team coming from 22 nil down to beat the
Brisbane Broncos 24–22. Following that win, a photo went viral of Sharks playmaker
Todd Carney
Todd Carney (born 2 June 1986), also known by the nickname of "Toddy", is an Australian former professional rugby league player who played in the 2000s and 2010s.
He has previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks, Sydney Roosters and ...
pretending to urinate into his own mouth. Just one day after Carney was stood down by Cronulla CEO Steve Noyce, Sharp resigned as interim head coach and was replaced by
James Shepherd.
2014–2015
The 2014 season saw a myriad of struggles for Cronulla on the field, with injuries and the suspension of five players involved in the supplements scandal of 2011, missing games at the back end of the season. Cronulla finished 2014 with the
Wooden Spoon.
In 2015, the club climbed the ladder to eventually finish 6th with two wins over eventual minor premiers
Sydney Roosters and 2014's premiers
South Sydney. 2015 was also the year Flanagan was reappointed as coach of Cronulla after sitting out the
2014 NRL season
The 2014 NRL season was the 107th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 17th season of the National Rugby League in Australia and New Zealand. The season started in New Zealand, for the Auckland Nines, replacing the Rugby Leagu ...
. The club would reach the second week of the finals series where they were defeated 39-0 by
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
in
Townsville.
2016
The
2016 NRL season
The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
started with a 20–14 loss over 2015 premiers,
North Queensland Cowboys. This was followed by a 30–2 win over the St. George Illawarra Dragons and a loss to Manly-Warringah, 22–12. Cronulla then went on to win 15 games in a row from Round 4 against the
Melbourne Storm to Round 21, against the
Gold Coast Titans, resulting in an 18-all draw. This was the largest win streak in the club's history. During this period Cronulla equalled their largest win score by defeating the
Newcastle Knights 62–0.
They then went on to win 1 out of their last 5 games resulting in a drop from 1st to 3rd. In round 26, the Cronulla-Sutherland and
Melbourne Storm faced off in a minor premiership showdown in which the Melbourne Storm won 26–6 in AAMI Park. They went on to defeat the Raiders in the Week 1 qualifying final 16-14 and earning the week off. Advancing to the Preliminary final, they defeated defending premiers
North Queensland Cowboys 32–20 at the
Sydney Football Stadium
The Sydney Football Stadium, commercially known as Allianz Stadium and previously Aussie Stadium, was a football stadium in Moore Park, Sydney, Australia. Built in 1988 next to the Sydney Cricket Ground, the stadium was Sydney's premier rect ...
. They would face and defeat the Melbourne Storm in the
2016 NRL Grand Final
The 2016 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to determine the premiers of the National Rugby League for the 2016 season. The match was held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Sunday 2 ...
. Cronulla, after leading 8–0 at half-time, prevailed in a gripping affair 14–12 to claim their first premiership in the club's 50-year history. Cronulla second rower Luke Lewis was awarded the Clive Churchill Medal as Man of the Match.
Soon after the Maiden premiership victory stat player
Ben Barba
Ben Barba (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who last played for St Helens in the Super League. He primarily played as a or .
He was banned by both the NRL and Rugby Football League in February ...
tested positive for Cocaine and was sacked from the club. Chairman
Damian Keogh, who rose to the position on a platform of promising good governance and increased commercial experience garnered from his role as CEO of HOYTS Australia, was also arrested for possession of Cocaine whilst in Sydney's CBD and resigned from the position of Sharks Chairman as a result.
2017 World Club Challenge and 2017 season
Cronulla played Wigan Warriors at the DW Stadium on 19 February 2017, losing 22–6 to a strong Wigan side. In the
2017 NRL season
The 2017 NRL season was the 110th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 20th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
, Cronulla reached the finals. In week one, Cronulla played against North Queensland in the elimination final. Cronulla went on to be upset 15-14 and were eliminated from the finals ending their premiership defence.
2018 and financial struggles
In the
2018 NRL season
The 2018 NRL season was the 111th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 21st season run by the National Rugby League. The main competition, known as the 2018 Telstra Premiership due to sponsorship from Telstra, featured 16 team ...
, Cronulla-Sutherland finished 4th on the table and qualified for the finals. The club would eventually reach the preliminary final but were defeated by Melbourne 22–6 at
AAMI Park
The Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, known as AAMI Park for sponsorship reasons, is an outdoor sports stadium on the site of Edwin Flack Field in the Sports and Entertainment Precinct in the Melbourne central business district.
When completed ...
.
In November 2018, the Sharks sack 10 staff members after $3m loss for 2018 season.
On 19 December 2018, Cronulla head coach
Shane Flanagan
Shane Flanagan (born 2 December 1965) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach, and was the Head Coach of the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks. He was appointed assistant coach of NRL team Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2006 and was s ...
was de-registered as a coach indefinitely for failing to adhere to the conditions of his suspension in 2014. The NRL integrity unit had found that Flanagan had sent more than fifty emails exchanged between Flanagan, club management and the football department which was strictly against the conditions of his suspension which included that Flanagan was to have no contact or involvement with the club during his ban. The NRL also fined Cronulla $800,000 as punishment.
During the 2019 preseason, on 29 November, it was confirmed that Cronulla would be forced into sacking 10 staff members to help their financial situation. It was reported that Cronulla had lost $3 million, despite being given support of the NRL.
2019
On 31 July 2019, it was revealed by the ''
Sydney Morning Herald
''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper i ...
'' that Cronulla would be moving their home games away from
Shark Park for two seasons as part of the club's redevelopment of the Cronulla Leagues Club and Shark Park itself.
At the end of the 2019 regular season, Cronulla finished 7th on the table with 12 wins and 12 losses and qualified for the finals. In the elimination final against Manly, Cronulla lost 28–16 at
Brookvale Oval which ended their season.
2020s
2020
Cronulla-Sutherland finished 8th on the table in the
2020 NRL season
The 2020 NRL season was the 113th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 23rd season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 14th consecutive year.
; Notes
:
:
:
Pre-season
...
and qualified for the finals after recovering from a poor start to the year. Cronulla were then eliminated in the first week of the finals losing to
Canberra
Canberra ( )
is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...
32–20 at
GIO Stadium.
2021
Cronulla started the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
two wins from their opening five games. Following the club's 28–16 loss against the
Sydney Roosters, head coach John Morris was terminated from his position and replaced with interim head coach
Josh Hannay
Josh Hannay (born 11 January 1980) is an Australian professional rugby league coach who is an assistant coach of the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL and a former professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1990s and 2000s ...
. The club would then go on to lose their next five matches in a row. Cronulla then recovered to sit in eighth place with two games remaining of the regular season. In the final round of the year, Cronulla-Sutherland lost 28–16 against
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and the
Gold Coast
Gold Coast may refer to:
Places Africa
* Gold Coast (region), in West Africa, which was made up of the following colonies, before being established as the independent nation of Ghana:
** Portuguese Gold Coast (Portuguese, 1482–1642)
** Dutch G ...
leapfrogged them into eighth place after they defeated the
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
. Cronulla finished the season in ninth place and missed out on the finals for the first time since 2014.
2022
Cronulla surprised many in the
2022 NRL season
The 2022 NRL season is the 115th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 25th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 16th consecutive year. This became the second longest s ...
after finishing second on the table at the end of the regular season. Throughout the year, Cronulla went on a six-game winning run. In the finals series, Cronulla were defeated 31-30 by
North Queensland
North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...
in the qualifying final which was played at
Shark Park. Cronulla had lead the match 30–22 with less than ten minutes to go before North Queensland forced the game into extra-time. Former Cronulla player
Valentine Holmes
Valentine Holmes (born 24 July 1995) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays across the backline as a or er for the North Queensland Cowboys in the NRL and Australia at international level.
He began his career with the ...
kicked the winning field goal for North Queensland. The following week, Cronulla were defeated 38-12 by
South Sydney in the elimination final which ended their season.
Emblem, colours, and song
Logo
The club wasn't known as the Sharks until after its initial admission into the competition. During Cronulla's first season the crest featured a drawing of
Captain Cook's ship, . It is alleged that during the first season the club President suggested the 'Lions' while the captain
Ken Kearney
Kenneth Howard "Killer" Kearney (3 May 192418 August 2006) was an Australian rugby footballer – a List of dual-code rugby internationals, dual-code international player – and a rugby league coach. He represented the Australia national rugby ...
recommended the 'Sharks'. The mascot may have been named after the Cronulla Surf Club's rugby league teams of the 1970s.
From the late 1970s through to the late 1990s, the Sharks used a predominantly black circular crest with a blue shark. This was changed after
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
in 1997 to a blue and white star-shaped design. Between 1999 and 2002, the name was shortened to simply the "Sharks". Since 2003, the name has since been changed back to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and changed their logo again in 2004, which is currently in use.
For Cronulla's maiden season in first grade a teal jersey with a white V was adopted from the
Cronulla Surf Life Saving Club despite Cronulla's chocolate and gold design in the Sydney 2nd Division competition. The team colours of black, white and teal changed to sky blue, with grey being incorporated during
Super League
The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of wh ...
, and shortly after on the team's away strip.
Primary jerseys
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1967.png, 1967
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1968.png, 1968-1977
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1978.png, 1978-1980, 1985-1994
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1981.png, 1981-1982
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1983.png, 1983-1984
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 1995.png, 1995-1996
Image:Cronulla Jersey 1997.png, 1997-2000
Image:Sharks Jersey 2001.png, 2001-2003
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 2004.png, 2004-2006
Image:Cronulla-Sutherland Jersey 2007.png, 2007-2009
Cronulla's club song is known as ''Up Up Cronulla'', and is set to the tune of
Beer Barrel Polka
"Beer Barrel Polka", also known as "The Barrel Polka", "Roll Out the Barrel", or "Rosamunde", is a 1927 polka composed by Czech musician Jaromír Vejvoda. Lyrics were added in 1934, subsequently gaining worldwide popularity during World War II a ...
.
Stadium
When the Sharks entered the competition in 1967, they played their home games at Sutherland Oval. They only played there for two seasons with the Sharks winning their first game at the ground on 22 April
1967 NSWRFL season
The 1967 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 60th season of Sydney's professional rugby league football competition, Australia's first. The introduction of the Cronulla-Sutherland and Penrith clubs saw a total of twelve t ...
. The record attendance for Sutherland Oval was set in the last Cronulla game played at the ground when 12,578 saw the Sharks go down 32–4 to
Canterbury Bankstown, then known as the Berries, now Bulldogs on 16 June
1968 NSWRFL season
The 1968 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the 61st season of professional rugby league football in Australia. Twelve teams, including six Sydney-based foundation teams and another six from around Sydney competed for the J.J. ...
. Overall, the Sharks compiled a record of 4 wins, 11 losses and 1 draw at the venue.
In 1969, they then moved to
Endeavour Field, where they have remained. This home ground has had numerous names over the years including Ronson Field, Shark Park, Toyota Park and until the end of 2012, Toyota Stadium. In 2013, it returned to the original name Endeavour Field. On 4 July 2013, the Cronulla Sharks announced their new stadium naming rights partner
Remondis
Remondis is German multinational company for recycling, water resource management and industrial and communal services with headquarters in Lünen
Lünen is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located north of Dortmund, on bot ...
, an international waste solutions and management company.
In 2016 a new sponsorship deal for naming rights was signed with Southern Cross Group to name the stadium Southern Cross Group Stadium. The new partnership with Southern Cross Group (SCGroup) is a three-year deal, reportedly worth $1.5 million.
Southern Cross Group Stadium has a capacity of 22,000 people with the record attendance of 22,302 being set for a game against local rivals the St George Illawarra Dragons on 1 May 2004
Sharkies Leagues Club
![Sharkies Leagues Club](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d7/Sharkies_Leagues_Club.JPG)
The Cronulla Sutherland Leagues Club is known as Sharkies, and is located on Captain Cook Drive at
Woolooware
Woolooware is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woolooware is located south of the Sydney central business district in the Sutherland Shire. It shares the 2230 postcode with Cronulla.
Woolooware stretches ...
. The leagues club sits beside the Cronulla Sutherland home ground,
Endeavour Field.
Proposals to develop the land assets of the Leagues Club which owns the stadium and land around Endeavour Field stumbled for many years prior to arrival of renowned businessman
Damian Irvine
Damian J Irvine (born 25 May 1974, Sydney, Australia) is an Australian businessman and sporting administrator.
Early life
Irvine was born in Sutherland Shire, Sutherland, southern Sydney, and attended Yarrawarrah, Yarrawarra school, where he be ...
. In partnership with his head of finance Craig Douglas the plans finally became more tangible, as details of a residential and shopping centre were released. In August 2012, the club received final approval for their plans solving a 40-year-old problem of financial instability.
The arrival of respected CEO Lyall Gorman has seen 2016 be a watershed year off and on-field for the Sharks.
2023 squad
2023 Signings & Transfers
Gains
*
Brad Fearnley –
Penrith Panthers
*
Oregon Kaufusi
Oregon Kaufusi (born 20 August 1999) is a Samoa international rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League.
He previously played for the Parramatta Eels in the NRL.
Background
Kaufusi ...
–
Parramatta Eels
*
Henry O'Kane
Henry O'Kane (born 5 April 2002) is a Ireland international rugby league footballer who plays as a forward.
He was previously contracted to the Wests Tigers in the NRL.
Background
O’Kane was born in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. He ...
–
Wests Tigers
Losses
*
Luke Metcalf
Luke Metcalf (born 1 March 1999) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the New Zealand Warriors in the National Rugby League (NRL).
He previously played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL. Also ...
–
New Zealand Warriors
The New Zealand Warriors are a professional rugby league football club based in Auckland, New Zealand that competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) premiership and is the League's only team from outside Australia. They were formed in 1995 as ...
*
Franklin Pele –
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
*
Jordan Samrani –
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs
*
Andrew Fifita
Andrew Fifita ( to, ʻAnitelū Fifita) (born 28 June 1989) is a retired professional rugby league footballer who played as a . He has played for Tonga national rugby league team, Tonga and Australia national rugby league team, Australia at inte ...
– Retirement
*
Aiden Tolman
Aiden Tolman (born 10 November 1988) is a former Australian professional rugby league footballer who last played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL.
He previously played for the Melbourne Storm and the Canterbury-Bankstown Bul ...
– Retirement
Players
Sharks Immortals
The club has honoured five individuals as "Immortals" of the club:
*
Tommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...
, player-coach (1969–74)
*
Greg Pierce
Gregory Stuart Pierce (4 March 1950 – 24 June 2016) was an Australian rugby league player, coach and administrator. He played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and for Australia. He captained hi ...
, player (1969–80) and coach (1981–82)
*
Steve Rogers, player (1973–85) and CEO
*
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
, player (1980–92)
*
Andrew Ettingshausen
Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen (born 29 October 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks ...
, player (1983–2000)
Representative players
Club captains
1 – Unknown number of matches as captain between 1972 and 1976.
Dream Team
''Announced 2006''
Team of the Half Century
''Announced 2017''
Club Legends
''Announced 2003''
*
Cliff Watson
Clifford H. Watson (26 April 1940 – 2 May 2018) was an English professional rugby league footballer who played as a in the 1960s and 1970s. He played for the St Helens in the Rugby Football League Championship, and later the Cronulla-Suthe ...
*
Greg Pierce
Gregory Stuart Pierce (4 March 1950 – 24 June 2016) was an Australian rugby league player, coach and administrator. He played as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League competition and for Australia. He captained hi ...
*
Mark McGaw
*
Steve Rogers
*
Andrew Ettingshausen
Andrew "ET" Ettingshausen (born 29 October 1965) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s. He played his first grade Australian club football for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks ...
*
Mat Rogers
*
Tommy Bishop
Tommy Bishop (born 15 October 1940) is an English former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s, and coached in the 1970s and 1980s. He played for Blackpool Borough, Barrow and St Helens in the English Champion ...
*
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
*
David Hatch
Sir David Edwin Hatch, (7 May 1939 – 13 June 2007)
"''Just a Minute''" site wa ...
*
David Peachey
David Peachey (born 21 April 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1990s and 2000s. An Australian international and New South Wales representative , he played the majority of his club football in t ...
Team of the Decade
''Announced 2020''
Award winners
Dally M Medal
*
Steve Rogers (1981)
*
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
(1988, 1989)
*
Preston Campbell (2001)
*
Nicho Hynes
Nicholas Hynes (born 18 June 1996) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the National Rugby League, NRL.
He previously played as a for the Melbourne Storm in the National R ...
(2022)
Rothmans Medal
*
Terry Hughes Terry Hughes may refer to:
* Terry Hughes (baseball), American Major League Baseball player
* Terry Hughes (biologist), Irish-Australian biologist
* Terry Hughes (director), British comedy television director
* Terry Hughes (politician), Califor ...
(1968)
*
Ken Maddison
Ken Maddison is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1960s and 1970s.Ken M ...
(1973)
*
Steve Rogers (1975)
*
Barry Russell
Barry Russell (New South Wales, Australia), was a rugby league footballer in the New South Wales Rugby League competition.
Russell played for Eastern Suburbs in the 1954 season and the North Sydney club in 1957.
Barry is the brother of D ...
(1988)
*
Gavin Miller
Gavin John Miller (born 4 January 1960) is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1970's and '80s. An Australian international and New South Wales State of Origin representative forward, he played the majority of his cl ...
(1989)
*
Paul Green (1995)
Club Player of the Year (Porter Gallen Medal)
Clive Churchill Medal
*
Luke Lewis
Luke Lewis (born 11 August 1983) is an Australian rugby league commentator and former professional rugby league footballer who played for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks and the Penrith Panthers in the National Rugby League (NRL) and Australia ...
(2016)
Coaches register
Honours
Premierships: 1 (
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
)
Runners-Up: 3 (
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
,
1997SL)
Minor Premierships: 2 (
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
)
Wooden Spoons: 3 (
1967
Events
January
* January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair.
* January 5
** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and ...
,
1969
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon.
Events January
* January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco.
* January 5
**Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to ...
,
2014
File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...
)
Finals Appearances: 24 (
1973
Events January
* January 1 - The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union.
* January 15 – Vietnam War: Citing progress in peace negotiations, U.S. ...
,
1978
Events January
* January 1 – Air India Flight 855, a Boeing 747 passenger jet, crashes off the coast of Bombay, killing 213.
* January 5 – Bülent Ecevit, of Republican People's Party, CHP, forms the new government of Turkey (42nd go ...
,
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
,
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
,
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
,
1989
File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...
,
1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
,
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
,
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
,
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
,
2001
The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...
2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
,
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
,
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
,
2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
,
2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
,
2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
,
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
,
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
,
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
,
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
,
2022
File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...
)
Amco Cup: (
1979
Events
January
* January 1
** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
)
Rivalries
Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles
This rivalry has been dubbed the "Battle of the Beaches", due to the geographical locations of the two clubs. Manly played the Sharks in two grand finals: 1973 and 1978, which are renowned for being the most brutal in history. Manly won both of these deciders, 10–7 in 1973 and 16–0 in the 1978 replay after the first game ended at 11-all. The Sea Eagles have traditionally had much success over the Sharks, with Cronulla winning at Manly's home ground just five times in their history. However the Sharks' biggest ever win came against Manly, a 68-6 thrashing in 2005. Cronulla and Manly play for the Steve Rogers Trophy when the two clubs meet in the NRL premiership each season. The two teams met in the 2013 finals, when Manly held off Cronulla by 24–18. Most recently the two teams met in the 2019 finals, when Manly beat Cronulla 28–16 at
Brookvale Oval.
St. George Illawarra Dragons
Cronulla's fiercest rivalry is with their Southern Sydney neighbor,
St George Illawarra Dragons. The success of the St. George club has often seen Cronulla labeled as the 'little brother' to the Dragons, further emphasised by the Dragons joint-venture with the
Illawarra Steelers
The Illawarra Steelers are an Australian rugby league football club based in the city of Wollongong, New South Wales. The club competed in Australia's top-level rugby league competition from 1982 until 1998. On the 13th of December 1980, the ...
in 1998, effectively surrounding the Cronulla-Sutherland region geographically. On ANZAC Day 1999, Cronulla CEO Peter Gow famously cut up a St. George jersey with a pair of scissors in front of onlookers at Cronulla's leagues club and assaulted former St. George player
Barry Beath
Barry Beath (born in Eugowra, New South Wales) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer, a second-row forward for the St. George Dragons in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership competition. He represented for New Sou ...
who had become involved in the situation. Gow was later sacked by Cronulla for defacing the jersey and for assaulting a club patron.
Despite this the head-to-head match-up between the two clubs is surprisingly even. The two teams always lift the intensity when they meet, which has led to some classic matches over the years. In the 1999 preliminary final, Cronulla-Sutherland had won the minor premiership and looked like cruising to the grand final, before St George Illawarra scored 24 unanswered second half points to win 24–8. They would meet again in the finals in 2002, with Cronulla winning 40–24, and again in 2005 when St George Illawarra won 28–22.
Melbourne Storm
A fairly recent rivalry that reached its height in the
2016 NRL Grand Final
The 2016 NRL Grand Final was a rugby league match between the Melbourne Storm and the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks to determine the premiers of the National Rugby League for the 2016 season. The match was held at Sydney's ANZ Stadium on Sunday 2 ...
which was won by Cronulla.
Round 2 of the
2008 NRL season
The 2008 NRL season was the 101st season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the eleventh run by the National Rugby League. For the second year, National Rugby League teams, sixteen teams competed for the 2008 Telstr ...
saw the sides meet at Olympic Park in Melbourne, and Cronulla was able to reverse the result by the same scoreline via a Brett Kimmorley field goal. The match was marred by an ugly brawl which saw Cronulla's Ben Ross and Melbourne's Brett White sent from the field. It was the only loss Melbourne suffered at home during the 2008 regular season.
The two sides met again in the preliminary final where Melbourne, despite missing captain Cameron Smith to suspension, defeated Cronulla 28–0 to advance to the grand final against Manly-Warringah.
Melbourne began the
2012 NRL season
The 2012 NRL season was the 105th season of professional rugby league club competition in Australia, and the first run by the newly formed Australian Rugby League Commission. The main competition, called the 2012 NRL Telstra Premiership due to spon ...
with nine straight victories, before a Paul Gallen-less Sharks pipped them 12-10 thanks to a Jeremy Smith try and clutch conversion from Todd Carney. It looked like Cronulla would land two wins over Melbourne that year, leading 18–10 with 90 seconds to go in the second game between the sides.
Melbourne somehow scored twice to win 20–18. The competitive rivalry between the two sides officially began in late 2015 when Melbourne beat Cronulla 30–2 in spiteful circumstances. Cronulla coach Shane Flanagan accused Melbourne of slowing down the game with their wrestling tackle technique. The loss meant that Melbourne leap-frogged Cronulla into 4th place heading into the finals. Again Cronulla-Sutherland handed Melbourne their first loss of the
2016 NRL season
The 2016 NRL season was the 109th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 19th season run by the National Rugby League. The season started in New Zealand with the annual Auckland Nines, and was followed by the All Stars Match, w ...
, winning the round 4 clash 14–6. It was the first match in Cronulla's record-breaking 15 matches winning streak.
The two sides would meet in the final round of the regular season with the winner taking out the minor premiership. Melbourne won 26-6 and took out the JJ Giltinan Shield. However, Cronulla-Sutherland would win the biggest game ever between the two sides 4 weeks later, winning the 2016 grand final by 14–12 in a thriller.
The two teams traded close wins in 2017, with Cronulla winning 11–2 at AAMI Park before Melbourne returned serve with an 18–13 victory at Southern Cross Group Stadium. 2018 saw Cronulla win both encounters with Melbourne during the regular season, yet despite this, lost to them in the preliminary final 22 to 6.
The match featured a controversial moment when Melbourne player
Billy Slater
William Slater (born 18 June 1983), is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. An Australian international and one-time captain of the Queensland State of Origin team, he played his entire ...
made an illegal tackle on Cronulla winger Sosaia Feki while he was in the act of scoring, therefore constituting a professional foul. Slater managed to avoid the Sin Bin despite being penalised for the action, as well as avoiding suspension, with the NRL judiciary controversially ruling that the tackle did not constitute a shoulder charge. Their round 4 clash in 2018 saw a record 33 penalties blown, and Cameron Smith was sin-binned for the first time in his career.
In the
2021 NRL season
The 2021 NRL season was the 114th season of professional rugby league in Australia and the 24th season run by the National Rugby League.
Teams
The lineup of teams remained unchanged for the 15th consecutive year.
Regular season
Ladd ...
, former Melbourne player Will Chambers signed a contract to join Cronulla-Sutherland which closed the chapter of the two sides competitive rivalry. Chambers had previously labelled Cronulla captain
Paul Gallen
Paul Gallen (born 14 August 1981) is an Australian professional boxer and former professional rugby league footballer who played as a and forward and captained the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the NRL to their maiden NRL Premiership in 2016. ...
and other Cronulla players as "Drug Cheats" during a 2017 game between the two sides.
Supporters
The Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks receive support from groups of fans, including the "Cronulla-Sutherland Supporters Club", supporter's website "Sharks Forever", and fan forum "Sharks Forever".
Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks fans became widely known for the '
Spirit Fingers', when someone has a
Place kick.
Notable Celebrity Supporters of the club include;
, valign=top ,
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Lara Bingle, Australian model and actress
*
John Boldeman
John William Boldeman is an Australian nuclear scientist and winner of many scientific awards and medals, including an Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science, ANZAAS Medal in 2007, the Clunies Ross Lifetime Achie ...
, Australian nuclear scientist
*
Stuart Clark, former Australian cricketer
*
Bill Collins, Australian film critic and author
*
Peter Costello
Peter Howard Costello (born 14 August 1957) is an Australian businessman, lawyer and former politician who served as the treasurer of Australia in government of John Howard from 1996 to 2007. He is the longest-serving treasurer in Australia' ...
, former
Federal Treasurer of Australia
*
Brendan Cowell, Australian actor, screenwriter, comedian and director
*
Dave Faulkner, Australian rock musician
*
Cathy Freeman, Australian former sprinter
*
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
, Australian actor, radio presenter, voiceover artist and philanthropist
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Brendan Jones, Australian radio presenter
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Daniel MacPherson, Australian actor and television presenter
*
Elle Macpherson, Australian model
*
Glenn McGrath
Glenn Donald McGrath (; born 9 February 1970) is an Australian former international cricketer who played international cricket for 14 years. He was a fast-medium pace bowler (cricket), bowler and is considered one of the greatest international ...
, former Australian international cricketer and commentator
*
Scott Morrison, 30th
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
*
Shannon Noll, Australian singer-songwriter
*
Mark Occhilupo
Marco Jay Luciano "Mark" Occhilupo (born 16 June 1966) is an Australian surfer and winner of the 1999 ASP World title.
Occhilupo, also known as "Occy", began his professional career in the World Championship Tour (WCT) at the age of 17. In S ...
, Australian surfer
*
Glenn Wheeler
Glenn Wheeler OAM (born 21 April 1960) is an Australian media personality and former radio and television presenter.
Career
After working in sales and marketing for many years, doing master of ceremonies work on the side, Wheeler joined Sydne ...
Australian radio personality
*
Markus Zusak
Markus Zusak (born 23 June 1975) is an Australian writer with Austrian and German roots. He is best known for ''The Book Thief'' and '' The Messenger'' (US title: ''I Am the Messenger''), two novels which became international bestsellers. ...
, Australian writer
Women's team
References
External links
Official Cronulla Sharks websiteOfficial Cronulla Sharks Membership websiteOfficial Cronulla Sharks Merchandise websiteOfficial Cronulla Sharks Leagues Club websiteCronulla Sharks image and news archive, with game stats back to 1967
{{Sydney Sports Teams
National Rugby League clubs
Rugby league teams in Sydney
Rugby clubs established in 1963
1963 establishments in Australia
Fan-owned football clubs
NRL Women's Premiership clubs