I think it's safe to say that the new rule interpretations this year have created chaos across the competition.
That dreaded six-again bell has been burned into all of our minds. I have terrible, terrible dreams about it, every time I close my eyes.
Despite what the NRL bosses will tell you, the game is very different in 2026. It simply is not the same product as in years gone by.
Now, it's worth stating that it has been a month since the newly minted six-again rulings, and obvious crackdown of such, has been in effect.
Rugby league fans, myself very much included, are prone to hyperbole. Everything seems much worse than it actually is.
I have no doubt that the good coaches, and players, will adapt to the faster game, and the current chaos will be forgotten by around Origin 2.
That said, there is one coach I hold genuine fears for. That being, unfortunately for this Sharks fan, Craig Fitzgibbon.
Not for one second am I suggesting Fitzgibbon can't overcome the troubles the Sharks have endured to start 2026.
Nor am I suggesting he be sacked. He's lead the Sharks to two straight preliminary finals.
That said, I am asking for him to be a little, or far, more flexible.
Right now the Sharks are comfortably the slowest team in the competition. They built a monster forward pack over the years. One which dominated more often than not.
One that has had rings run around it over the past fortnight. One that was bossed by a Dolphins pack of second-rowers playing as middles.
Post match press conference comments that he was "happy with the effort of the middles" was almost insulting to hear as a fan.
There is no world in which he believes that to be true.
Alarm bells are not blasting just yet, but you can certainly hear them.
Superstar prop, and the Sharks best player last year, Addin Fonua-Blake has failed to run for 100 metres in two straight games.
No one in their right mind would put any negativity on AFB, who almost literally carried the Sharks at times last year.
Shire cult figure Thomas Hazelton has been horribly exposed across the first three rounds. He is too big and nowhere near fast enough to start right now.
International second rower Briton Nikora has started the season with running returns of 48, 56 and 68 metres. In a game I am convinced has seen second rowers become the main weapons.
Nicho Hynes and Braydon Trindall, for all their creativity and try scoring prowess, would be the two slowest halves in the competition.
The horribly over-criticized William Kennedy is all effort but I am confident some second rowers are quicker.
In fact, Sam Stonestreet seems to be the only player in the current 17 with genuine pace. The try he scored against the Dolphins, no other Shark gets close.
KL Iro is all power and can hardly be accused of being slow, but Stonestreet burns him at two thirds pace.
Jesse Colquhoun, by far the most mobile and fastest forward in the current set up, has inarguably been their best across the opening three games.
Meanwhile the ball of energy that is Hohepa Puru was dropped back to NSW Cup this weekend despite a brilliant stint off the bench against the Panthers.
There is exactly the issues I, and many others in the fan base, have with Fitzgibbon.
He has his top 17. He has his game plan.
Nothing will shift him on this. Even if, as we saw on Saturday, both of his middles are on their haunches, gasping for air, the plan was they both play 26 minutes.
The amount of times everyone in the universe has seen that Toby Rudolf needs a break, only for him to concede an error or miss a tackle through sheer exhaustion, only to then be removed ... I am almost as bald as Fitzgibbon as a result!
Every man, woman, child, dog and pet rock knows the Sharks need a refresh. They need to get younger and they absolutely need to get faster.
Fitzgibbon just seems unwilling to do so.
Briton Nikora would be flat chat making any side in the competition right now. On reputation, there's very few he wouldn't make. On form, not so.
makes with the ball during the round seven NRL match between Newcastle Knights and Cronulla Sharks at McDonald Jones Stadium, on April 20, 2025, in Newcastle, Australia. (Photo by Scott Gardiner/Getty Images)
Last season he played off the bench, in the middle, and was foaming at the mouth when he came on. For two straight finals the Sharks didn't concede a single point while he was on the park.
Jesse Ramien turned in an 11 out of 10 performance in Round 1 but was the worst player on the park in each of the past two games.
Meanwhile speedster Michael Gabrael sits in reserve grade, being cut out of the action due to the Sharks and Jets set up. More on this at a later time.
The talent is coming through. Monster middle Felix Faatili has leaned out so much I contacted the club to see there had been a mistake on the website with photos.
Sam McCullouch, the former Jersey Flegg captain, is a ball playing, super mobile middle.
Ok you can't throw all three of the aforementioned players in together ... or can you!?
It would be better than seeing the current crop being walked over by literal second-rowers forced into the middle due to injuries.
Again, it's early in the season and there are a million reasons why the Sharks were outplayed so badly the past two weeks.
Unfortunately though this has been creeping into the Sharks outfit for three seasons now.
They've aged, they've slowed and they've become complacent.
100% the faster rules have not played into their favour. The faster game has amplified what was creeping in to be bursting down walls with urgency.
I hold genuine concerns that Fitzgibbon won't, or can't react quickly enough to stop the slide.
I am still super confident the Sharks will make the eight. We're nowhere near a title threat right now, but Penrith sat last around Magic Round last year and probably should have beaten Brisbane in the Prelim.
Again, the alarm bells are not sounding, but no one can sit here with a straight face and tell me the Sharks aren't too slow for 2026's edition of PVL Ball.
