Cronulla‘s mixed start to the season could be down to a number of factors, but a looming salary cap crunch could be weighing on the players according to Phil Gould.

After four-straight years of making the NRL finals but failing to push into the big dance, question marks are already circling around the Sharks after back-to-back losses.

Craig Fitzgibbon‘s men blew the Titans off the park in a 50-10 opening round, but have since gone on to fall in one-sided defeats against the Panthers and Dolphins.

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Their latest effort saw them belted 38-10 at Shark Park against a Dolphins outfit missing a stack of key players including Tom Flegler and Jeremy Marshall-King.

Some of the Shark’s most consistent players such as Addin Fonua-Blake and Briton Nikora have been down on their usual form, while the enigmatic halves combination of Braydon Trindall and Nicho Hynes have failed to fire in either of the losses.

Gould was asked whether the alarm bells should be sounding yet in the Shire and while it’s still early in the year, there could be some big-picture problems building.

Nicho Hynes during the loss against the Dolphins.  Getty

“You wouldn’t have said that after round one, they won by 50 and beat the Gold Coast Titans, but then they went to Bathurst and played the Panthers,” he said on Wide World of Sports’ Six Tackles With Gus this week.

“There’s a couple of things about the Panthers – not only are they going extremely well, but when they are at their best, very few teams win the next week either. They tend to take a lot out of them and that was a real blow to the confidence of the Sharks.

“They would have gone to Bathurst full of optimism … the Panthers totally blotted them out of it and they would have gone home asking ‘crikey, how short are we’ and maybe their heads weren’t into that game on the weekend [against the Dolphins].

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“The other aspect with the Sharks, at the end of this year they have got some real salary cap issues. They have got some players off-contract who will be unable to be re-signed.

“Some players are good when they are off-contract and actually go better, because they’re looking for a new deal – but other players can’t really handle it.

“Maybe there are some players down there who are worrying a little bit about their own futures and that’s something the coach and the club is gonna have to contend with.”

One person who won’t be going anywhere is coach Fitzgibbon, who signed a fresh two-year extension on Wednesday night to keep him at the club until the end of 2029.

Despite stability at the top, Cronulla have more players unsigned for next season than the majority of the other NRL teams and among them are some experienced figures who have been staples during the Fitzgibbon regime since he took over in 2022.

Toby Rudolf in action against the Dolphins. Getty

Jesse Ramien, Toby Rudolf, Braden Uele, Will Kennedy and Sione Katoa have all played well over 100 games for the Sharks, while injured captain Cameron McInnes sits at 96.

All of those men are off-contract at the end of this season and that’s not even factoring in Siosifa Talakai and Mawene Hiroti, who have already signed with other clubs.

Gould believes the time has almost come for Cronulla to look towards the future.

“I think the Sharks have to start looking towards younger players coming into the team and fellas that have developed there over the last couple of years to see whether they’re up to NRL standard before they make decisions on others,” he said.

“It’s a difficult time for them, but you only get those windows of opportunities in the NRL and they have been up there and fallen short year after year.

“You either get better or get worse and that wasn’t a good sign on the weekend … that was a capitulation the other night and we don’t see that often.”

Cronulla Sharks 2026 squad

Addin Fonua-Blake, Billy Burns, Blayke Brailey, Braden Uele, Braydon Trindall, Briton Nikora, Cam McInnes, Hohepa Puru, Jayden Berrell, Jesse Colquhuon, Jesse Ramien, Liam Ison, KL Iro, Mawene Hiroti, Nicho Hynes, Niwhai Puru, Oregon Kaufusi, Riley Jones, Ronaldo Mulitalo, Sam Stonestreet, Sione Katoa, Siosifa Talakai, Teig Wilton, Thomas Dellow, Tom Hazelton, Toby Rudolf, Tuku Hau Tapuha, Will Kennedy

Cronulla Sharks off-contract list

Braden Uele, Cam McInnes, Hohepa Puru, Jayden Berrell, Jesse Ramien, Niwhai Puru, Riley Jones, Sam Stonestreet, Sione Katoa, Toby Rudolf, Tuku Hau Tapuha, Will Kennedy