The Cronulla Sharks are one of the most frustrating teams to support on a week to week basis.
More often than not, fans can walk into work singing Up! Up! Cronulla, and they have only missed finals footy once in the past decade.
There are 12 other clubs who would sacrifice greatly to switch places with the Sharks.
Yet every year, when it comes to the competition's big dogs, they fall short.
Smashed in back to back preliminary finals, it's a strange spot to be in.
Those who know me, know I'm a mad Sharks fan - we get to enjoy making back to back prelims. How can you possibly be negative in that context? Being smashed in back to back prelims though? Not so much fun.
The club has, again, built our hopes up by winning four games in a row only to then be handled, with ease, by a Roosters side with half their team backing up from Origin?
So ... why are the Sharks are unable to match the big guns? That's the million dollar question.
Well, I have some thoughts. Five of them in fact. Five obvious deficiencies, and the fix to see the Sharks match the big dogs (consistently):
The halves are too similar (and slow)
On paper, the Sharks halves combination is a top pairing in the NRL. Every stat backs it.
Only Melbourne's megastar halves combination provided more try assists (43) try assists in 2026 than the Sharks combination (40).
That said, they both play an identical game and neither could ever been accused of being speedsters.
Both like to dominate to the point I don't know who is playing halfback and who is five-eighth. Ignore the numbers on their back, they play a "hot hand" set up where whoever is feeling it on the day runs the show.
It works more often than not but when it doesn't work, it's painful to watch and sees the blame game flood towards Nicho Hynes.
The Fix: A difficult conversation with either Hynes or Trindall
The fact that Craig Fitzgibbon still believes his halves combination is "developing" is almost offensive to hear. How long does it take?
The Sharks can't afford to lose both Hynes and Trindall, but it's close to the point where they have to move on one. If they can't get it right after three years, they never will.
Hynes has to revert to a running five-eighth role or make way for Sharks NSW Cup star Ryley Pollard. Trindall is the general now.
Unfortunately Hynes is too slow to break the line like he did in his Dally M season.
It's quickly becoming a case of "one or the other" in the Shire, despite the incredible stats they produce as a duo.
Craig Fitzgibbon is far too slow to react
Craig Fitzgibbon has learned a lot during his relatively short tenure as Sharks coach, however the one place he is still in amateur territory is when it comes to using the bench.
Toby Rudolf plays too many minutes almost every single week. He only has a three man rotation planned out and almost wastes the fourth bench spot.
He sat Dan Atkinson on a four man bench for three quarters of the season to zero positivity. There were weeks Atkinson would run out, make five tackles then be taken back off.
I can't think of a time an on the fly interchange for the Sharks has turned the game. It's all worked out to the minute, and minutes too late.
The Fix: Hire a new (experienced) assistant
Fitzgibbon needs to hand over the reins when it comes to the interchange bench.
I believe it's time to move Steve Price on and replace him with someone with new ideas.
It has to be a former NRL First Grade coach with plenty of experience. Someone who can lean over to Fitz in the coaches box and say "there's an opportunity here, throw player X on".
3. Lock forward issues
I am loathe to say anything negative about Cameron McInness but the fact is he is less of an accelerator and more of a handbrake in 2026.
McInnes has enjoyed a brilliant NRL career but he's ineffective when it comes to bending the line and has zero ballplaying ability. He's also targeted in defence with alarming regularity.
You either need to be ballplayer or average 150 metres in the mould of a third prop. McInness is neither.
The Fix: Jesse Colquhoun fulltime at 13
This is one is so obvious and so frustrating.
The Sharks were playing their best footy when Jesse Colquhoun was starting at lock. Yet Fitzgibbon went back to Cameron McInness almost as quickly as possible.
The fact a departing and ineffective McInness is starting over the younger, faster, stronger and better Colquhoun is frustrating to say the least.
Colquhoun started at prop recently and has handled himself well but he's put the ball distribution away, which has hurt the Sharks attack.
Too similar: The props are all the same
Toby Rudolf, Oregon Kaufusi, Braden Uele, Tom Hazelton, Sifa Talakai ... all the exact same type of forward.
All average under 100 metres, all struggle to create second phase play. All are solid and can defend but all can be found out if played past their threshold.
You can start one of those with Addin Fonua-Blake but you can't bring two (or three) off the bench. There just isn't enough there to worry opposition forwards.
The Sharks have a bench that, when running down hill, can grind you into the ground. They just don't have anything special that can take over and win a game.
Opposition scouts have them worked out. Truthfully, they only need to scout one and run the tape four times and you've covered them all.
The Fix: Felix Fa'atili & Sam McCulloch
Hulking NSW Cup standout Felix Fa'atili recently re-signed for two seasons.
He is much faster than the forwards mentioned, has better footwork and is capable of regular offloads. He is as close to a must name when it comes to Round One in 2027 for the Sharks.
Sam McCulloch is the best ballplaying forward at the club, gets bigger every time and I see him and is starting to dominate NSW Cup, when given the opportunity.
Both are very different to what the Sharks currently run out every week. A bench of Fa'atili, McCulloch, Burns and one of either Hazelton or Kaufusi looks a far different prospect than the cookie cutter current crop.
Too slow for modern NRL
The halves, as mentioned earlier, are the slowest combination in the competition.
Ronaldo Mulitalo can motor but outside the rep winger, there just isn't any real threat here when it comes to open pastures.
The Sharks make so many line-breaks that don't lead to tries due to the lack of pace. Meanwhile if the Sharks concede a line-break, they're almost always under their own sticks wondering what happened.
It's not like the Sharks are slow compared to us regular folk, but compared to the big dogs of the NRL, they are a long, long way behind the pace ... literally!
The Fix: Sam Stonestreet, Michael Gabrael and hit the market
Dropping the fastest player in the club, Sam Stonestreet, beggars belief. Especially when he is being replaced by the comically slow Sione Katoa.
Gun centre Michael Gabrael is the only man in the ranks who can get close to Stonestreet. He will replace Jesse Ramien in 2027 and will add some much needed pace.
Those two are likely to form the right edge combination next season. The only issue is they current ply their trade on the left in NSW Cup.
If these two aren't ready to go, the Sharks need to actually hit the market. Not to sign a big name player, but target the speedsters of Jersey Flegg or NSW Cup to get some much needed pace into the squad.
Change the Manager of Football (Darren Gough) and coach Fitzgibbon.
They are both too set in their ways and too slow mentally.