Cronulla coach Craig Fitzgibbon is well aware this Sharks squad might have just one last chance to win an NRL premiership together.
The Shire club has about half its first-grade roster off contract this year, while popular forward utility Siosifa Talakai has already signed for the Perth Bears from 2027.
On Saturday, an astonishing eight of the 19 players named to face the Titans are currently in contract limbo.
READ MORE: Australia urged to help Iran players after ‘treason’ claim
READ MORE: Eels star banned after controversial sin bin call
READ MORE: Former teammates clash as Swans rout Blues at SCG
They are Will Kennedy, Jesse Ramien, Braden Uele, Billy Burns, Sione Katoa, Hohepa Puru, Toby Rudolf, and Sam Stonestreet.
Inspirational forward Cameron McInnes – who is out injured – and extended bench members Jayden Berrell and Niwhai Puru are among the others without a deal beyond this season.
Cameron McInnes reacts with Sharks teammates. Getty
Having made the preliminary final stage of the season two years in a row, Fitzgibbon is desperate to go one step further and reach a grand final for the first time in 10 years.
It was in 2016 when the Sharks beat Melbourne in the premiership decider to bring an NRL title to Shark Park for the first time.
The coach hopes his team can give one final push together to achieve the ultimate goal.
“It can be a strength, it can be a real strength,” he said on Friday.
Watch the 2026 NRL season live and free on Nine and 9Now.
“It’s been discussed internally but we wanted to bring it up, address it so we can put it to bed and get back to business.
“All the blokes who are off contract or who may leave, they are still Sharks this year. So our focus is on the Sharks, and they are pretty clear on that.
“They are a tight group, been together a long time now, and we like to think we can use that to our advantage.”
Cronulla is an NRL outlier in that the club didn’t go to market at all during the off-season, opting to run with the same roster that almost made the grand final in 2025.
Fitzgibbon says he never considered turning over his Sharks squad.
“It’s easy for us because we believe in our squad,” he said.
“We were really clear at the back end of last year, obviously being agonisingly close to (winning a premiership)… I thought we showed improvement at the back end of the year.
“I feel like a vast majority – not all of them, but a vast majority of them – have still got some upside, so we’re really comfortable.
“That was an easy decision not to move (players on).”
The Sharks host Gold Coast on Saturday night to open their NRL season.
The Titans are now coached by Josh Hannay, who worked as an assistant coach at Cronulla for several years and was interim head coach before Fitzgibbon took the reins.