The Cronulla Sharks will again attempt to get over the hump in 2026.
It's really that simple. The men in black, white and blue are a finals quality team, and one in contention for the premiership, but they haven't been to the decider since 2016.
The last two seasons in particular were particularly heartbreaking, with back-to-back preliminary final departures.
The common rhetoric heading into 2025 is that they might well have only been one big-name forward away from glory, but Addin Fonua-Blake's arrival wasn't able to drag the club over the line, and instead, simply served to stretch the salary cap.
That might seem harsh, and it's certainly not a knock on Fonua-Blake's performance, but the Sharks are now in a squeeze to retain talent without a premiership to show for it.
That said, they come into 2026 relatively settled, although Fitzgibbon has plenty of youth at his disposal, and may well elect to fire some changes throughout the course of the campaign.
Here are the selection questions for Cronulla heading into 2026.
2. What role will Cameron McInnes play once he is fit?
Unfortunately for the Shire-based outfit, ACL injuries are plural heading into 2026, with workhorse and inspirational lock forward Cameron McInnes also to miss the start of the new campaign.
In his place at lock to start 2026 will be Jesse Colquhoun.
He did a different job than McInnes when called on to replace the lock forward at the end of 2025, but did it well and is the future of Cronulla's number 13 jumper, provided he re-signs.
It's not hard to understand why six or seven clubs are currently chasing his services, including the cashed-up Perth Bears.
But either way, the Sharks will be doing everything they can to retain Colquhoun, and that should include a starting role throughout 2026.
If that comes to be, McInnes may well be limited to a bench role upon his return from injury. Whether that actually suits the big-minute workhorse remains to be seen though.
Sharks’ biggest challenge – in my opinion – is to start using the decent youngsters that they have, and not to keep them frozen out of the first team unless there are long-term injuries.
That means that they do not develop and the coach feels he has to re-sign existing first-team players (usually on higher pay).
Cronulla is short of cap space for this very reason.
Their problem is essentially a coaching problem, not a training/player/effort problem.