Should Craig Fitzgibbon have been under pressure as head coach of the Cronulla Sharks in 2026?
That is probably the question that should have been asked of the Sharks' board, despite back-to-back preliminary final appearances.
The men from the Shire, despite that, have actually probably underperformed over the last two seasons.
That's not a shot at Fitzgibbon, or the playing group. Plenty of rival clubs, this Dragons fan included, would have traded up for that without a second thought.
But at the Sharks, a premiership contender on roster strength and on paper haven't played that way on the field. Their preliminary final appearances have been good, but they never looked like they were a side who could take the next step or challenge the big dogs.
Their record against top four sides over Fitzgibbon's journey speaks volumes.
At the end of 2026, their squad is likely to be, let's face it, gutted. That could actually be a positive for the Sharks who are in desperate need of fresh blood and a bit of a rebuild, but it will also almost certainly close their immediate premiership window while things get back together.
No side came into the new campaign quite as stable as Cronulla, and yet, right now, fans are probably wishing that wasn't the case.
As my colleague Dan Nichols so eloquently outlined earlier this week, the Sharks are too slow for modern rugby league - way too slow.
And that's the way it has played out in the opening rounds of 2026.
While they put the cleaners through likely wooden spoon contender the Gold Coast Titans in their season opener, they were hammered by the Panthers in Round 2 and barely fired a shot against the Dolphins in Round 3.
The faster game was never going to suit the men from the Shire, but the speed of their downfall, particularly in defence where they have leaked 62 points in the last two games simply isn't what you're used to from a side who have often ground out games, not just during Fitzgibbon's run as head coach, but before it too.
Simply put, Addin Fonua-Blake is a shell of his former self based on the first three rounds, Nicho Hynes hasn't played anything like his Dally M Medal season since it, William Kennedy is up and down, a contract crunch is leaving questions over job security, and without Blayke Brailey at hooker and Braydon Trindall at five-eighth, you have to wonder where the Shire-based club would really be.
Now, there is almost no doubt the contract extension for Fitzgibbon was as good as done before the season started, but the timing of it still doesn't make a great deal of sense.
Again, it's not to say he hasn't had success, but even with two preliminary finals in a row under his belt, it was fairly clear that the jury was out.
Because the Sharks should have done better. Looked better against the top sides even might have been enough to convince you.
But they have looked a comfortable number four in each of the last two preliminary finals if we are being fair dinkum about it.
At some point, that has to come back to a coach who refuses to refresh his side, refuses to blood young talent, and has watched excellently talented players go backwards under his watch.
Maybe this hits closer to home for this columnist, purely because it looks like the Sharks are making the same mistakes my Dragons did with Paul McGregor and Anthony Griffin.
Both of those contracts, signed way too easy and without pressure from other clubs chasing their signatures, ended in the respective bosses not seeing out the length of their terms.
2029 is an awfully long way away for a coach who hasn't proven he can crack the code just yet.
Fitzgibbon, for all his results, is not Ivan Cleary, Wayne Bennett or Craig Bellamy.
Like the Dragons with McGregor and Griffin, there was no race for Fitzgibbon's signature, and he has the best part of two full seasons before he is off-contracted.
Having a coach locked in does make recruitment easier, but again, the Sharks signed no body for 2026 at all, so even that is a tough point to make right now.
Fitzy, as he is affectionately known, could have been re-signed at the back-end of the season with the Sharks well in the mix, or not if they weren't, and it would have been the correct decision.
Now the club are relying on a playing group not built for the fast-paced rigours of rugby league in 2026 to not leave egg on the face of powerbrokers.
