There were fascinating reports that surfaced on Wednesday night that indicate the NRL will be forcing the Cronulla Sharks to make the move out of Ocean Protect Stadium following insufficient developments to their ground.
FanaticsTV broke the news on a podcast, saying the club will play all its home games at Allianz Stadium and Jubilee Stadium next year.
"There is a bit of news coming out of the NRL. A couple of people out of the NRL aren't that happy with Shark Park," show host Warren Livingstone said.
"This year they lose the semi-finals, and next year, my mail is they will be playing all their games at Allianz and Kogarah Stadium."
It would be a significant blow for the Shire locals, with the Sharks always reaching an extra gear every time they play at their spiritual home ground in the city's south.
Upon reaching out to the Sharks, the club confirmed the reports were "not happening", with the franchise looking to stay put in the Shire.
Zero Tackle has been told by the Sharks that a statement has been issued to internal partners. In it, they established that they had reached out to the NRL and that the game's governing body had confirmed there was no substance or truth to the rumours floated.
The Sharks were "disappointed" by the rumours, although conceded upgrades are necessary to the Shire stadium.
The Sharks also confirmed construction on the Leagues Club is progressing as per schedule and should be finished later this year.
The ground's facilities have been regularly criticised with ongoing construction reducing the capacity of the stadium, restricting them to less than 15,000 people.
The continuing redevelopment of the Sharks Leagues Club on the eastern end of the ground has come under scrutiny, with delays contributing to the reduced quantity of Shire locals in the stadium, although it now appears as if the project is moving in the right direction to return the ground to its full capacity.
The NRL and ARL are currently investigating home-finals at suburban grounds, with the Daily Telegraph reporting in February that the Sharks and Manly Sea Eagles may have their home-final rights withdrawn, forcing them to move a 'home final' to Allianz Stadium.
It is because the NRL believes that the smaller suburban grounds are no longer deemed fit to host a finals match, where crowd attendance expectancies massively expand. The code would gain a greater financial advantage by moving a major fixture to Allianz to accommodate all the extra fans who would miss out at Ocean Protect Stadium or 4 Pines Park.
The Sharks held finals matches at Shark Park in 2022, 2023 and 2025, but the future of major fixtures at the ground is still being finalised by NRL head honchos.
